:-NRLF 


I 

M 


/T  /  »      . 


THOUGHTS     I    MET 
ON    THE    HIGHWAY 


LIBRAR 


*W*    «W*     *ffl^    *M^     **•*     *ffl*    *JB^    MUM    *•*    *JB*    *U*    *•*    ^QJ*    (WWk 


I  MET  OK  THE  HIGHWAY 


BY    HENRY    NORMAN 


BOSTON,    MASS. 

THE    EVERETT    PRESS 

MCMV 


ENTERED,  ACCORDING  TO  ACT  OF  CONGRESS,  IN  THE  YEAR  1888, 

BY  HENRY  NORMAN, 
IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS,  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


INTRODUCTORY 


IN  offering  this  little  book  to  the  public,  all  I  wish  to  say 
is  that  I  have  written  the  thoughts  it  contains  just  as  they 
came  into  my  own  soul.  They  have  been  a  blessing  to  me, 
and  I  send  them  forth,  hoping  they  will  do  good  to  others. 

HENRY  NORMAN. 

Lynn,  Mass. 


THOUGHTS     I     MET 
ON    THE    HIGHWAY 


NOTHING  is  worth  believing  that  is  not  worth  the 
time  and  trouble  it  takes  to  prove  it.      I  always 
remember  this  when  I  hear  evil  reports  of  my  neighbors. 


YOUNG  man,  make  a  queen  of  your  mother,  and  God 
will  make  a  prince  of  you. 


WHICH  is  worth  the  most,  an  arm  or  a  character  ?  The 
reason  I  ask  is  because  I  notice  that  when  a  man  falls 
and  breaks  his  arm,  everybody  seems  to  pity  him ;  but  when 
he  falls  and  breaks  his  character,  he  seems  to  have  few 
friends,  but  plenty  of  enemies. 


THE  true  religion  is  that  which  thrusts  its  arm  farthest 
through  the  slush  and  slime  of  sin  and  degradation  to  lift 
a  soul  to  its  own  level. 


THE  most  profound  and  most  profitable  words  that  hare 
ever  been  spoken  have  been  so  simple  that  a  love  of  truth 

m 


-^-  THOUGHTS       I       MET  jp- 

has  been  all  that  has  ever  been  required  to  understand 
them. 


THERE  never  was  a  sin  committed  which  was  not  in 
some  way  related  to  some  sin  that  I,  at  some  period  of  my 
life,  have  committed,  either  by  deed,  word,  or  thought. 
And,  this  fact  ever  prominent  in  my  mind,  I  am  always  re 
minded  that,  no  matter  what  crime  a  man  commits,  my 
first  impulse  toward  him  must  be  pity. 


IT  is  just  as  unnatural  to  be  a  millionnaire  as  it  is  to  be 
a  pauper.  And  it  is  the  unnaturalness  of  both  conditions 
that  causes  envy  in  one  and  contempt  in  the  other. 


No  one  can  find  complete  joy  in  anything  that  is  tran 
sient.  Nothing  affords  perfect  happiness  but  that  which 
points  to  a  future. 


THE  parent  who  cannot  control  and  lead  a  child  by  love 
is  not  qualified  to  bring  up  children.  It  is  strange  that  so 
many  who  call  themselves  Christians  will  worship  that  po 
etic  expression  of  Solomon,  "Spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the 
child,"  while  with  the  blindness  of  barbarism  they  walk 
over  all  the  commands  and  examples  of  Christ,  every  one 

[8] 


ON      THE      HIGHWAY 


of  which  breathes  love,  patience,  and  tenderest  pity  for 
children.  Physical  force  is  not  so  much  as  once  recom 
mended  in  all  the  New  Testament. 


How  convenient,  as  well  as  sure,  is  every  fixed  princi 
ple  of  truth.  No  matter  how  ignorant  one  may  be,  if  he 
is  honest,  that  one  virtue  will  acquaint  him  with  all  the 
other  virtues  and  make  him  a  wise  and  useful  man.  The 
virtues  are  all  united  and  in  perfect  harmony,  and  to  be 
acquainted  with  one  is  like  being  intimate  with  one  mem 
ber  of  a  good  family:  through  that  one  member  it  is  easy 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  all. 


RIGHT  and  wrong  are  so  far  apart  that  they  never  touch 
each  other;  and  yet  they  are  so  close  together  that  there  is 
not  room  for  a  soul  to  walk  between  them.  Every  one 
must  be  on  one  side  or  the  other. 


So  you^say  you  don't  believe  the  story  of  the  Jews  march 
ing  from  Egypt  to  the  Promised  Land  ?  Well,  if  you  will 
trace  yourself  back  to  the  time  when  you  first  knew  there 
was  a  right  and  a  wrong,  a  vivid  recollection  of  very  many 
of  your  acts  will,  or  at  least  ought  to,  convince  you  that 
your  life  has  been  a  complete  repetition  of  that  wilderness 

[9] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


experience  of  that  rebellious  host.  You  will  see  that  through 
sinful  ignorance  and  doubting  you  have  suffered  many 
times  more  and  been  many  times  longer  in  accomplishing 
all  the  good  you  have  done  than  you  need  to  have  suffered. 


No  matter  how  poverty-stricken  a  man  may  be,  nor  how 
limited  his  education,  his  ability  and  opportunity  for  do 
ing  good  will  always  be  equal  to  his  love  for  his  fellow 
mortal. 


How  blessed  it  is  to  hear  another's  troubles  and  be  able 
to  sympathize.  To  the  troubled  one  it  is  like  a  new  lease 
of  life,  while  to  the  one  who  hears  in  the  confidence  of  hon 
est  love,  it  is  a  commission  from  the  Court  of  Heaven  to 
perform  a  holy  work. 


THERE  is  not  a  single  position  that  woman  has  been 
allowed  to  hold  that  she  has  not  filled  with  dignity  and 
first-class  ability.  In  proportion  to  the  number  of  men 
in  business,  women  are  as  successful  as  men;  and  fewer 
women  fail  in  the  same  kinds  of  business  than  men.  This 
is  because  they  are  not  so  extravagant  as  men  and  are  bet 
ter  in  morals,  while  they  are  equal  in  judgment.  The  boys 
who  grow  up  under  the  hand  of  their  widowed  mother  turn 

[10] 


-^  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -{»- 

out  full  as  well  as  those  who  come  up  under  their  father's 
hand,  and  often  better.  And  if  a  woman  can  be  the  making 
of  a  man,  she  can  do  anything.  Knowing  these  facts,  as  I 
do,  I  should  feel  guilty  of  cruelest  tyranny  if  I  were  not  a 
Woman's  Rights  man  with  all  my  heart. 


No  matter  what  trouble  I  might  have,  whether  it  were 
poverty,  debt,  misrepresentation,  slander,  scandal,  disap 
pointment  in  love,  or  if  in  an  unguarded  moment  I  should 
commit  a  crime,  my  first  move  would  be  to  take  a  position 
on  the  right  side  of  it,  which  would  be  where  the  truth 
could  speak  and  act  through  me,  no  matter  how  cutting 
it  might  be.  Then  my  next  move  would  be  to  examine 
the  trouble  thoroughly, —  search  it  all  over  from  head  to 
foot,  just  as  a  detective  would  search  a  thief;  for  I  would 
know  that  there  was  secreted  somewhere  about  it  some 
thing  that  would  be  very  valuable  to  me.  No  trouble  shall 
ever  ride  through  my  heart  without  paying  its  fare. 


RETALIATION  exasperates  to  madness  and  furnishes  the 
foe  with  new  weapons.  But  that  non-resistance  which  is 
born  of  charity,  showing  its  power  to  strike  back  with  kill 
ing  force,  yet  forbearing,  arrests  the  attention  of  the  enemy; 
and,  while  he  is  looking  on  and  wondering  why  such  sac- 

[111 


•«J-  THOUGHTS       I      MET  ^ 

rifice  is  made,  love  gets  a  hearing  and  the  rebellious  soul 
is  conquered. 


You  can  whip  anything  out  of  a  child  but  badness,  or 
whip  anything  into  it  but  goodness. 


IF  a  silver-collared  pug  should  jump  into  the  finest  car 
riage  and  take  a  seat  alongside  of  the  occupant,  he  would 
receive  tender  strokes  and  perhaps  a  kiss.  But  if  a  poor, 
sickly  child,  or  an  aching-backed  washerwoman  should 
ask  to  ride  in  the  same  carriage,  it  would  be  taken  as  an 
insult. 


BRING  most  men  face  to  face  with  the  real  definition  of 
their  profession,  and  they  will  deny  it  and  turn  away  from 
it. 


I  HAVE  ceased  to  inquire  of  the  learning  or  party  politics 
of  a  candidate  for  office.  I  have  only  two  questions  to  ask 
concerning  him:  Has  he  done  what  he  could  toward  bet 
tering  the  condition  of  the  poor  widowed  mothers  of  his 
community?  Has  he  opposed  all  kinds  of  vice  by  trying 
to  free  its  victims  ?  If  these  questions  can  be  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  I  know  he  is  qualified  to  fill  the  highest 
office  in  the  land. 

[12] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


EVERY  profession  of  truth  a  man  makes  is  sure  to  come 
back  to  him  for  recognition  and  redemption.  He  may 
make  it  in  private,  but  it  will  come  back  in  public;  and 
just  as  he  rejects  or  receives  it,  just  so  does  he  put  on  rec 
ord  before  the  world  the  full  measure  of  his  manhood.  This 
is  what  proves  and  tests  character. 


ONE  of  the  impossible  things  in  this  world  is  for  one 
person  to  ignore  another.  It  cannot  be  done.  You  may 
be  angry  with  a  man  and  decide  never  to  speak  to  him 
again.  But  you  will  find  that  it  requires  more  thought  and 
effort  to  pass  that  man  once  without  speaking  than  it 
would  to  salute  him  forty  times.  This  is  because  there  is 
no  provision  in  nature  for  hatred. 


NOTHING  comes  by  chance.  Whatever  is,  comes  by  a 
fixed  purpose  of  truth,  or  by  infernal  arrangement.  Trace 
the  smallest  mistake  to  its  cause,  and  you  will  find  it  so. 


PURE  matrimony  is  of  that  kind  of  love  that  feels  no  con 
flict,  sees  no  obstacles,  fears  no  danger.  It  does  little  court 
ing;  is  never  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do.  The  two  be 
come  one  as  naturally  and  as  quietly  as  two  drops  of  water 

[13] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


come  together  in  the  hollow  of  your  hand.  This  is  God's 
method  of  forming  two  together.  When  it  is  not  this  way, 
it  is  always  wrong. 


WHEN  we  have  a  thrilling  feeling  come  upon  us  on  the 
line  of  truth,  we  are  apt  to  think  that  it  comes  merely  for 
our  own  pleasure  to  make  us  feel  good.  But  the  object 
of  the  feeling  is  to  put  us  in  a  condition  to  conceive  wisdom 
and  power  to  perform  some  good  work.  And  if  at  the 
time  of  such  an  experience  we  would  look  to  God  and  ask 
Him  what  He  would  have  us  do,  we  would  soon  find  that 
good  feeling  forming  into  thoughts,  then  into  words,  and 
then  into  action.  For  good  feelings  are  like  good  desires: 
they  must  be  organized  before  they  can  accomplish  any 
thing. 


WHEN  an  emotion  comes  to  your  heart,  be  sure  you  do 
not  let  it  go  till  it  tells  you  what  it  came  for;  for  it  certainly 
has  a  mission  or  it  could  not  come. 


No  man  ever  accomplished  a  great  work  who  was  not 
an  extremist.  For,  in  order  to  do  a  great  and  good  work, 
one  must  be  wholly  given  up  to  fixed  principles,  and  every 
fixed  principle  points  to  the  end  of  a  truth.  With  the  heart 

[14] 


"*}-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -{*- 

and  mind  fixed  on  the  happy  result,  and  seeing  it  as  the 
architect  sees  the  structure,  even  before  a  stone  is  laid,  he 
is  led  to  adopt  extreme  measures,  because,  if  he  did  not, 
the  work  would  never  be  accomplished.  Herein  lies  the 
greatness  of  leadership.  The  masses  do  not  see  the  com 
pletion  of  the  building  as  the  architect  sees  it,  and  how 
much  less  the  completion  of  a  great  moral  structure. 


As  the  skilled  sculptor  looks  down  through  the  rough 
rock  and  sees  a  polished  statue,  just  so  does  the  true  child 
of  God  look  down  through  a  whole  life  of  sin  and  see  a 
soul  clean,  pure,  and  God-like.  This  is  the  power  of  Chris 
tian  vision. 


THERE  are  only  two  safe  and  available  offices  of  the  im 
agination.  One  is  that  which  makes  us  think  of  ourselves 
as  being  in  the  same  condition  as  those  less  favored  than 
ourselves ;  the  other  is  that  which  leads  us  daily  to  the  end 
of  life's  journey,  and  points  us  back  to  our  record. 


DID  you  ever  notice  what  great  relief  there  is  in  confes 
sion  ?  No  matter  how  black  the  crime  of  which  I  might  be 
guilty,  the  first  thing  I  would  do  after  repenting  would  be 

[15] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


to  confess  it  to  some  one  who  would  sympathize  with  me. 
Such  a  sympathetic  person  can  always  be  found ;  for  God 
always  has  such  people  in  every  community.  No  man,  how 
ever  strong  he  may  be,  can  himself  alone  bear  the  recol 
lection  of  his  wickedness  without  great  suffering  and  men 
tal  injury;  but  when  once  confessed,  the  burden  all  goes. 


IF  you  are  going  to  build  a  meeting-house  to  worship 
God  in,  raise  your  hundred  thousand  dollars  if  you  can; 
but  be  sure  not  to  put  more  than  ten  thousand  of  it  into 
the  structure.  Then  take  the  other  ninety  thousand  and 
put  it  into  houses  and  land.  Be  sure  to  have  land  enough 
to  each  house  to  keep  a  cow  and  poultry,  and  to  raise 
vegetables.  Then  put  into  each  house  a  poor,  but  devout 
man  and  wife,  who  are  beyond  middle  life,  and  put  under 
their  care  two  orphans,  with  the  understanding  that  they 
can  live  there  and  have  all  the  land  produces,  so  long  as 
they  are  kind  and  true  to  the  children.  Then  every  house 
would  be  a  Christian  monument,  and  every  child  a  walk 
ing  sermon,  and  such  a  sermon  as  a  sceptic  could  not 
contradict. 


I  FIND  that  if  I  keep  my  mind  constantly  fixed  on  the 
truth  (which  I  can  do),  no  evil  can  approach  me  without 

[16] 


-«J-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -f»- 

a  presentiment.  Sin  is  somewhat  like  a  rattlesnake.  It 
can't  touch  us,  in  spite  of  itself,  without  first  making  some 
kind  of  a  noise. 


IF  I  had  no  children  of  my  own,  I  would  consider  my 
self  living  in  open  rebellion  against  God  and  human  na 
ture  if  I  did  not  adopt  some  poor,  uncared-for  child  and 
cover  it  with  true  parental  care. 


THE  only  exhibition  of  true  democracy  that  this  world 
has  ever  seen  took  place  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era  (Acts  iv,  32).  The  great  and  grand  lesson  taught 
there  is,  that  one  Throne  in  one  universe  is  enough;  and 
that  men  are  never  properly  governed  until  they  have  been 
melted  into  brothers. 


WHEN  two  confidential  friends  fall  out  there  comes  a 
test  of  character.  The  one  that  gives  away  the  other's  se 
crets  first  is  the  one  that  was  wrong,  both  first  and  last. 


DID  you  ever  think  how  disgustingly  foolish  it  would  be 
to  create  men  to  live  here  for  seventy  years  and  then  die 
and  let  that  be  the  last  of  them  ?  Most  people  have  three 
hours'  hard  work,  or  pain,  or  perplexity,  or  sorrow,  to  one 

[17] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


hour's  happiness.  Why,  if  there  were  no  happy  future  for 
the  righteous,  I  would  consider  him  the  wisest  and  kind 
est  man  who  devised  the  easiest  and  quickest  method  of 
suicide. 


THERE  is  nothing  that  has  less  method  than  natural 
and  honest  conversation.  It  is  fashionable,  in  wrhat  is 
called  polite  circles,  to  say,  "Excuse  me  for  interrupting 
you,"  and,  "I  beg  leave  to  differ,"  and,  "Beg  pardon." 
But  in  natural  and  honest  conversation,  where  the  spirit 
of  true  friendship  presides,  there  is  none  of  this.  The 
spirit  of  the  conversation  makes  everything  to  harmonize; 
that  is,  nothing  that  is  said  is  looked  upon  as  an  interrup 
tion,  and  difference  of  opinion  gives  Truth  a  chance  to 
teach.  Hence  there  is  no  need  of  asking  leave  to  differ; 
for  all  are  seeking  for  light. 


THOUGH  man  be  converted,  washed,  and  consecrated  to 
divine  service,  he  cannot  remain  in  a  safe  and  progressive 
condition  for  one  single  day  unless  he  is  agitated  by  some 
thing;  if  not  by  zeal,  it  must  be  by  tribulation.  But  agita 
tion  there  must  be.  Our  Saviour  says  that  "  every  branch 
in  him  that  bears  fruit  is  purged  that  it  may  bring  forth 
more  fruit."  This  means  agitation.  So  let  us  not  call 

[18] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


those  cranks  who  are  moved  by  the  zeal  of  love  to  step 
beyond  the  boundary  line  of  common  methods  to  save 
man  from  sin.  Neither  let  us  who  are  called  by  "His 
name"  get  discouraged  when  God  allows  tribulation  to 
agitate  us,  that  we  may  be  qualified  for  noble  action,  and 
purified  to  receive  more  of  His  image. 


THERE  is  nothing  that  so  beclouds  and  weakens  the 
mind  as  smutty  or  unchaste  thoughts  and  conversation. 
True  wisdom  only  associates  with  virtue. 


HOWEVER  trying  the  case  may  be, 
The  insult  great,  or  the  injury  bad, 

A  weak  and  cowardly  man  is  he 

Who  to  speak  his  mind  must  first  get  mad. 


TRUE  parental  love  can  no  more  actuate  parents  to  whip 
their  children  than  hatred  can  prompt  them  to  caress  them. 


As  I  am  a  black  man,  I  would  say  a  word  about  the 
color  line. 

No  man  was  ever  hated  on  account  of  his  color  or  na 
tionality.  It  is  true  that  there  is  a  prejudice  against  the 

[19] 


THOUGHTS      I       MET 


blacks ;  but  it  is  no  stronger  against  them  than  it  would  be 
against  a  white  race  in  the  same  condition.  It  is  just  as 
impossible  for  human  beings  to  hate  each  other  on  ac 
count  of  color  as  it  is  for  the  different  colors  of  the  rain 
bow  to  hate  each  other,  or  the  different  kinds  of  vegeta 
bles  or  animals  to  despise  each  other  because  of  their  dif 
ferent  shades  and  colors.  The  strongest  and  most  cruel 
prejudice  that  ever  existed  between  races  was  that  of  the 
Jews  against  the  Gentiles.  So  great  was  it  that  our  Saviour 
used  it  to  show  the  power  of  faith  when  it  is  exercised  in 
the  right  direction;  for  He  said,  "It  is  not  meet  to  take 
the  children's  bread  and  cast  it  to  dogs."  This  He  said 
to  the  woman  of  Canaan ;  and  when  her  faith  had  proved 
to  be  the  right  kind,  He  gave  her  a  compliment  such  as  He 
never  paid  to  any  one  else:  "  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith! " 
This  was  an  eternal  rebuke  to  prejudice. 

All  races  have  been  subjugated,  degraded,  and  enslaved 
at  some  time,  and  have  had  to  pass  through  an  ordeal  as 
severe  as  the  one  that  the  blacks  have  been  passing  through 
in  this  country  for  the  last  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
years.  Races  are  much  like  vegetables :  they  grow,  bloom, 
and  go  to  seed,  and  of  the  many  seeds  of  many  races  a  new 
nation  springs  up.  When  a  nation  is  once  broken  and 
scattered,  it  never  comes  together  again.  A  nation  that 

[20] 


^}-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -{^ 

once  dies  never  lives  again  as  a  nation.  Its  fragments 
mingle  in  with  other  races  and  help  to  make  new  nations. 
That  is  just  what  the  blacks  are  doing  in  this  country  to 
day.  If  all  the  African  blood  there  is  in  this  country  was 
covered  with  black  skins  there  would  be  about  twenty 
millions  of  black  people  in  the  United  States;  whereas 
now  there  are  only  between  seven  and  eight  millions.  I 
can  point  out  forty  persons  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of 
Lynn  that  have  African  blood  in  them  who  pass  for  white. 
And  this  was  the  redeeming  quality  in  slavery;  for  it  is 
proved  by  ancient  history,  both  sacred  and  profane,  as 
well  as  by  everything  that  is  traceable  to  antiquity,  that 
the  blacks  were  once  a  great  nation.  But  now  they  are 
not  a  nation,  and  never  will  be.  The  only  way  to  raise 
them  up  from  the  heathenish  and  barbarous  state  into 
which  they  had  sunken  was  to  have  them  pass  through 
the  ordeal  of  slavery  to  the  plane  of  civilization,  and  then 
mix  in  with  other  races;  for  without  this  mingling  with 
other  races  no  fallen  race  could  be  redeemed. 

That  is  just  what  makes  the  American  nation  superior 
to  all  other  nations.  It  opens  wide  its  doors  (or  did  before 
we  had  the  misfortune  to  have  a  national  government  that 
was  hypocritical  enough  to  go  on  its  knees  to  a  few  tyrants 
who  called  themselves  democrats,  and  prohibit  the  Chi- 

[21] 


THOUGHTS      I       MET 


nese  from  coming  here),  and  says  to  all  races,  "Come, 
and  be  one  with  us;  we  neither  fear  nor  hate  you."  The 
nation  that  is  not  willing  to  receive  within  its  borders  all 
those  of  other  races  and  nations  that  are  willing  to  come, 
and  give  them  all  the  advantages  of  all  its  institutions,  is 
nothing  but  a  community  of  tyrants  and  cowards.  And 
there  is  nothing  more  ignorant  and  disgusting  than  the 
shoddy  saying  in  this  country  that  "all  races  had  better 
keep  by  themselves."  Those  that  preach  that  heathenish 
and  cowardly  doctrine  are  they  who  hold  prejudice  against 
the  blacks.  But  it  does  no  hurt  whatever;  for  they,  though 
perhaps  the  largest  in  numbers,  are  the  weakest  portion 
of  the  nation.  The  best  people,  —  those  who  are  the  head 
lights,  pillars  of  truth,  the  real  salt  and  power  of  the  earth, 
God's  own  mouth-pieces,  —  have  no  prejudice  against 
races.  Therefore  all  that  is  required  of  any  man,  black 
or  white,  as  qualifications  to  enter  the  best  society  on  earth, 
are  a  contempt  for  pride  and  all  vain  things,  a  soul  con 
secrated  to  God,  and  a  mind  given  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  fixed  principles  of  truth.  For  it  was  the  want  of 
these  qualifications  that  brought  all  races  into  bondage  to 
their  own  pride  and  lusts  first,  and  then  into  weakness, 
ignorance,  and  barbarism.  And  it  is  the  want  of  these 
same  qualifications  that  makes  many  people  degrade 

[22] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


themselves  with  prejudice  against  the  blacks  and  other 
races  in  this  country. 

As  regards  the  black  people,  I  must  confess  that  we  act 
silly  and  make  ourselves  disgusting  and  hateful  by  finding 
fault  because  we  are  not  fellowshipped  by  certain  classes, 
and  by  trying  to  force  ourselves  into  circles  where  we  are 
opposed.  There  is  not  a  good  institution  of  any  kind  on 
this  continent  from  which  a  black  man  is  excluded.  And 
any  man  that  tries  to  force  himself  into  an  unprofitable 
institution,  where  he  is  not  wanted,  proves  that  he  is  not 
a  good  man,  and  makes  himself  intolerably  disgusting.  If 
any  man  opposes  me  on  account  of  the  condition  of  my 
race,  I  take  it  as  a  blessing;  for  I  well  know  that  any  man 
who  is  so  given  to  pride  and  ignorance  as  to  be  so  foul- 
minded  and  false-hearted  as  that  could  be  of  no  pleasure 
nor  profit  to  me,  and  therefore  no  man  for  me  to  associate 
with.  In  this  sense  my  color  serves  to  keep  me  clean.  I 
have  never  been  slighted  or  insulted  in  any  way  by  any 
person  with  whom  I  have  wanted  to  associate. 


O  LOVE,  love !  what  art  thou  ?  Thou  art  the  wisdom  of 
all  truthful  obedience,  the  explanation  of  martyrdom,  the 
definition  of  every  good  work,  the  master  of  all  languages. 

[23] 


^*j-  THOUGHTS       I       MET  ^ 

Meekness  and  charity  are  thy  weapons  of  warfare,  and 
everlasting  victory  and  joy  will  yet  vindicate  the  adoption 
of  all  thy  methods. 


How  blessed  it  is  to  have  our  mind  so  intently  fixed  up 
on  God  as  not  to  know  how  much  good  we  are  doing. 


MAN  may  bury  his  money  and  his  talents,  but  there  is 
one  thing  that  he  cannot  bury,  and  that  is  his  true  char 
acter.  Truth  has  decreed  that  that  shall  stay  above  ground, 
either  for  the  profit  or  warning  of  others. 


IN  the  highest  sense,  self  is  never  lost  sight  of.  The  hon 
est  and  best  spent  life  is  the  telescope  through  which  man 
views  himself  in  ages  yet  to  come. 


ONE  of  the  most  foolish  acts  is  that  of  trying  to  advise 
an  original  man;  for  no  one  can  know  his  power  to  orig 
inate. 


THE  quickest  and  best  way  for  black  people  to  put  dis 
tance  between  themselves  and  all  the  shoddy  that  holds 
prejudice  against  them  is  to  become  deeply  interested  in 

[24] 


ON         THE          HlGHWA 


the  welfare  of  all  mankind,  and  engage  with  all  their 
might  in  every  good  work.  To  all  white  people  that  are 
not  shoddy,  color  makes  no  difference. 


NEITHER  matrimonial  nor  Christian  love  is  trustworthy 
and  enduring  until  it  has  been  in  the  refiner's  fire  and 
suffered  pain;  for  human  affection  is  not  born  into  the 
world  in  a  perfect  state,  and  therefore  has  to  be  purified 
and  moulded. 


WE  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  day  of  miracles  being 
past;  but  the  greatest  miracle  ever  wrought  is  that  of  sav 
ing  men  from  sin  and  melting  them  into  brothers.  This 
is  the  miracle  for  which  all  other  miracles  are  wrought; 
and  so  great  is  it  that  the  "  angels  have  desired  to  look  into 
it." 


How  dare  this  nation  call  itself  Christian  so  long  as  it 
thinks  murder  more  honorable  than  honest  labor  ?  \\hat 
kind  of  a  Christianity  is  it  that,  when  a  soldier  in  the  act 
of  killing  his  brother  gets  killed  himself,  gives  his  widow 
a  pension,  though  she  may  have  no  children;  but  when  a 
man,  working  to  support  his  family,  gets  killed  or  dies, 

[25] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


leaves  his  widow  and  children  to  suffer  cold  and  hunger  ? 
This  sin  of  neglecting  the  widows  and  orphans  is  the  very 
sin  for  which  God  rebuked  the  Jewish  nation. 


I  HAVE  known  every  kind  of  a  sinner  to  become  a  Chris 
tian,  save  one;  and  that  is  the  professional  hypocrite. 
There  doesn't  seem  to  be  any  remedy  for  him.  For  if  there 
should  be  a  new  plan  of  salvation  instituted  every  day, 
his  object  would  be  to  take  advantage  of  it  to  practise 
hypocrisy. 


TRIBULATION  is  God's  own  crucible.  The  zeal  that  is 
born  of  honesty  is  the  white  fire  that  melts  the  soul;  and 
patience  is  the  mould  in  which  it  gets  its  perfect  shape. 


GRANTING  free  speech  is  like  giving  vent  to  a  sore:  if 
the  virus  is  not  allowed  to  escape,  the  patient  will  die. 
Just  so  it  is  in  a  moral  sense.  If  people  are  not  allowed 
to  speak  out  what  there  is  in  them,  the  mental  virus  will 
poison  the  soul  to  death.  I  never  punish  my  children  for 
anything  that  escapes  their  lips,  for  I  well  know  that  if 
the  evil  were  not  in  them  they  could  not  speak  it.  My 
only  remedy  is  to  pour  in  virtue  through  words  of  love, 

[26] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


until  there  is  no  room  for  vice  left.  And  how  shall  I  know 
what  my  child  is  in  need  of  if  I  make  it  afraid  to  speak 
that  which  it  has  ? 


IT  matters  not  how  odd  or  unpopular  a  thought  may 
be,  if  it  comes  from  an  honest  heart  it  is  sure  to  reach  the 
heart  of  every  honest  person  that  reads  or  sees  it,  and  will 
do  good. 


No  one  in  his  present  condition  can  avoid  doing  as  he 
does.  Hence  no  man  has  a  right  to  offer  a  rebuke,  except 
he  that  has  the  wisdom,  power,  and  love  to  change  the 
condition  of  the  wrong-doer.  Christ  Himself  could  not  con 
sistently  tell  a  man  to  abstain  from  wrong  if  He  could  not 
give  him  power  to  do  right. 


THIS  world  has  been  at  war  with  itself  ever  since  it  has 
been  a  world,  and  has  not  got  itself  conquered  yet.  And 
what  is  true  of  the  world  is  true  of  an  individual ;  for  every 
man  is  a  world  in  himself,  because  all  the  elements  of  the 
world  are  in  him.  What  man  ever  conquered  himself,  or 
what  man  was  ever  master  of  himself?  This  nation  is 
proving  the  great  fact  every  day  that  no  man  can  be  his 

[27] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


own  master,  that  no  nation  can  secure  for  itself  freedom 
and  happiness.  Here  are  sixty  millions  of  people  with  the 
freest  constitution  and  institutions  of  any  nation  on  earth, 
and  every  man  a  voter;  living  on  a  continent  that  has  a 
capacity  for  feeding  and  clothing  all  the  people  in  the 
world;  and  yet  with  all  this,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
experience  of  every  other  nation  for  thousands  of  years 
back,  this  nation  to-day  has  as  little  happiness  as  any  civ 
ilized  nation  in  the  world.  All  this  goes  to  prove  that  man 
can  have  peace  only  as  he  obeys  his  Creator.  For  noth 
ing  is  conquered  or  made  happy  by  its  own  equal. 


THE  man  who  fancies  himself  delivered  from  vice,  and 
has  not  the  deepest  sympathy  and  pity  for  those  who  are 
in  the  same  condition,  is  in  bondage  to  a  worse  vice  than 
he  was  before. 


No  man  ever  did  a  wrong  act  while  in  his  right  mind. 
Therefore,  Charity  is  every  right-minded  man's  counsel. 


THE  most  that  fashionable  religion  does  is  to  make  us 
gather  up  our  garments  from  those  less  fortunate  than 
ourselves.  But  the  true  religion,  that  comes  of  Christian- 

[28] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


ity,  constrains  all  those  that"  have  it  to  wade  through  the 
slush  and  slime  of  sin  to  bring  the  lowest  up  to  their  own 
level.  There  is  no  sacrifice,  no  wisdom,  no  greatness,  no 
work,  no  knowledge,  no  life,  that  is  equal  to  this. 


No  truly  great  man  or  woman  was  ever  born  of  a  woman 
that  was  too  proud,  vain,  and  unnatural  to  nurse  and  take 
care  of  her  own  children.  Humanity  is  something  like 
wheat :  it  takes  its  character  from  the  soil  that  grows  it. 


WHATEVER  may  be  the  trouble  between  two  persons, 
there  is  always  a  chance  to  settle  that  trouble  in  a  way 
that  will  form  a  stronger  friendship  between  them  than 
there  ever  was  before. 


THE  boy  who  is  driven  to  church  is  generally  led  to  the 
devil.  But  the  boy  who  has  the  right  example  of  Chris 
tian  parents  at  home  generally  drives  the  devil  all  through 
life. 


I  HAVE  known  proud  persons  to  become  humble,  drunk 
ards  to  become  sober,  unchaste  persons  to  become  virtu 
ous,  atheists  to  become  Christians,  but  I  never  knew  one 

[29] 


THOUGHTS      I       MET 


of  these  to  attribute  his  salvation  to  anything  said  or  done 
by  any  great  pulpit  orator.  Which  fact  proves  to  me  that 
the  kind  of  talk  that  a  sinful  world  can  applaud  is  not  the 
kind  that  saves  souls. 


IF  all  the  officers,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  men  aboard 
of  vessels,  were  prohibited  from  having  deadly  weapons, 
it  would  stop  all  brutality  and  murder  aboard  of  vessels. 
For,  as  a  rule,  captain  and  mates  are  tyrants;  but  they 
could  not  tyrannize  the  men  if  they  had  not  the  advantage 
of  them;  and,  as  tyrants  are  always  cowards,  every  cap 
tain  would  make  sure  to  ship  none  but  men  of  good  char 
acter,  for  he  would  be  afraid  to  risk  his  life  with  bad  men. 
And  if  he  were  not  afraid  it  would  not  be  safe  nor  wise  to 
ship  bad  men  anyhow;  so  it  would  elevate  seafaring  life 
in  every  respect. 


PURE  bravery  never  fights  physically;  yet  it  always 
proves  itself  superior  to  and  demonstrates  its  power  over 
its  enemy. 


IDEAS  are  produced  by  guess-work.  They  come  with 
out  feeling  and  are  most  always  wrong.  But  pure  thought 
always  comes  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  hits  you  all  over, 

[30] 


-}-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -J»- 

and  thrills  your  very  soul.  It  always  employs  one's  feel 
ings;  in  fact  it  is  feeling,  because  it  is  life,  and  is  always 
right. 


THE  best,  surest,  and  quickest  way  for  a  man  to  be 
come  useful  to  his  fellowman,  and  also  to  grow  in  wis 
dom,  knowledge,  and  power,  is  to  hasten  to  impart  what 
he  knows  and  understands  to  all  that  will  hear  him ;  but  it 
must  be  done  from  the  heart.  And  he  should  seek  to  do 
it  in  private  talks  with  individuals  as  often  as  possible; 
for  it  is  the  private  talks  that  do  the  work.  The  greatest 
thoughts  spoken  from  pulpit  or  platform  would  do  little 
good  were  they  not  talked  over  in  private. 


TRACE  true  Democracy  to  its  source,  and  you  will  find 
it  close  by  the  "Sermon  on  the  Mount." 


WHEN  people  study  theology  they  only  learn  God's 
reputation  as  it  is  given  by  speculating  men.  But  when 
they  begin  to  listen  to  that  voice  of  love  which  speaks 
within  every  man's  soul,  then  they  begin  to  learn  God's 
character,  because  they  begin  to  obey  Him.  The  quick 
est  and  only  true  way  for  a  child  to  learn  the  real  charac- 

[31] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


ter  and  power  of  a  good  parent  is  by  strict  obedience.  The 
man  that  is  filled  with  God's  character  despises  all  theories 
concerning  God.  The  study  of  theology  is  the  amusement 
of  custom-made  ministers.  It  matters  not  how  great  and 
good  your  father  and  mother  may  have  been,  you  will 
never  be  able  to  do  them  as  much  honor,  nor  the  world 
as  much  good,  by  trying  to  study  up  and  write  out  an  ex 
planation  of  their  character,  as  you  would  do  by  living 
their  character  right  out  in  your  everyday  work  and  con 
versation. 


WHAT  people  seem  to  be  more  anxious  to  learn  than 
anything  else  is  how  they  can  conform  to  every  vanity  in 
dress  and  everything  else;  go  to  all  worthless  entertain 
ments  and  still  have  money  enough;  how  they  can  indulge 
all  lustings  of  the  flesh  and  still  be  healthy;  how  they  can 
live  in  sin  and  have  the  peace  of  righteousness. 


THERE  are  three  things  that  but  few  people  make  proper 
use  of;  namely,  liberty,  wealth,  and  learning. 


I  FIND  that  we  cannot  break  any  one  of  the  Command 
ments  without  violating  Nature.    Let  any  one  who  thinks 

[32] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


me  mistaken  look  well  into  human  nature,  and  then  ob 
serve  carefully  the  result  of  obeying  the  least  of  all  the  in 
junctions  in  the  Bible. 


THAT  man  is  to  be  pitied  who  thinks  more  of  law  than 
of  love;  for  it  is  evident  that  he  is  ignorant  of  law's  object. 


WHETHER  married  or  single,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man 
to  support  a  woman,  and  the  right  of  every  woman,  mar 
ried  or  single,  to  be  supported.  This  all  nature  teaches 
us.  In  all  communities  where  women  have  to  work  the 
hardest,  there  you  will  find  the  least  virtue,  the  least  in 
telligence,  and  above  all,  the  least  love.  And  I  say,  and 
know,  that  no  nation  can  rise  wholly  above  the  level  of 
barbarism  until  it  grants  a  pension  to  at  least  all  of  its 
widowed  mothers. 


IF  a  proud  man  could  see  exactly  what  is  in  his  heart, 
it  would  scare  him  to  death. 


How  blessed  it  is,  beyond  all  power  of  expression,  that 
when  torment  would  gnaw  into  the  very  core  of  our  soul, 

[33] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


we  can  immediately  enter  into  perfect  peace  by  so  simple 
an  act  as  fixing  our  mind  on  our  Heavenly  Father.  I  speak 
from  experience,  and  know  what  I  am  talking  about. 


A  MAN  is  no  more  to  blame  for  being  born  a  thief,  liber 
tine,  liar,  loafer,  drunkard,  or  murderer,  than  he  is  for  be 
ing  born  with  any  physical  disease. 


JUST  as  soon  as  I  was  old  enough,  I  became  a  Free 
Mason.  Not  for  the  good  it  would  do  me,  or  any  one  else, 
but  merely  through  pride  and  curiosity,  the  real  reasons  that 
lead  all  fools  to  join  secret  societies.  But  I  soon  saw  that 
a  secret  lodge  was  a  place  of  sin  and  delusion,  and  came 
out.  The  purest  and  greatest  men  and  women  will  tell 
you  that  the  only  way  you  can  lead  a  useful  and  noble 
life  is  to  live  openly  and  in  the  light.  Remember  it  is  only 
sin  that  seeks  darkness  and  secrecy.  Remember  also  the 
words  of  our  Saviour:  "In  secret  have  I  said  nothing." 


A  BIGOT  is  a  man  who  has  been  convinced  that  a  thing 
is  right,  and  whose  action  is  equal  to  his  conviction.  It 
is  bigotry  that  kindles  the  fire  that  eventually  burns  off 

[34] 


^  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  ^- 

the  dross  and  leaves  us  the  pure  gold.     All  truly  brave 
and  honest  men  are  bigots. 


THE  greatest  power  that  man  can  have  is  that  of  fixing 
his  mind  wherever  he  wills.  Were  it  not  that  he  has  this 
power  he  could  not  be  guilty  of  sin. 


As  proof  that  the  Bible  is  true,  what  man  ever  lived  ac 
cording  to  its  teachings  and  was  sorry  for  the  result  ?  And 
what  man  ever  lived  an  opposite  life  and  was  glad  for  the 
result  ? 


ETIQUETTE  is  one  of  the  fine  arts  of  deceitfulness.  I 
never  knew  one  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  etiquette  who 
was  not  a  hypocrite.  But  courtesy  is  an  act  of  universal 
love,  for  it  bows  to  all  alike. 


THE  difference  between  true  greatness  and  great  shoddy 
is  this :  One  pays  a  hundred  dollars  for  an  oil  painting  of 
a  little  beggar  girl,  and  hangs  the  picture  in  his  parlor, 
though  if  he  saw  the  little  beggar  in  his  house  he  would 
drive  her  out  as  he  would  a  dirty  dog ;  the  other  ignores  the 

[35] 


THOUGHTS      I     *MET 


picture,  but  adores  the  girl,  and  spends  his  dollars  in  try 
ing  to  bring  her  to  his  own  level. 


IF  women  would  study  and  learn  the  power  of  defence 
with  which  nature  has  furnished  them,  they  would  not 
have  much  fear  of  wicked  men.  For  there  is  nothing  in 
this  world  that  has  such  repelling  power  as  a  woman's 
eye,  if  she  knows  how  to  use  it. 


A  MAN  is  never  honest  as  long  as  he  tries  to  appear  so. 


IN  order  to  have  inspiring  thoughts,  the  soul  must 
breathe  them,  as  the  lungs  breathe  the  air;  that  is,  with 
out  effort. 


ANY  Christian  man  who  knows  how  to  court  a  girl 
properly  knows  enough  to  preach  the  gospel.  For  when  a 
man  seeks,  in  a  proper  way,  to  make  a  girl  his  wife,  he 
does  not  study  up  stories  to  tell  her,  nor  does  he  try  to 
devise  methods  to  entertain  her,  but  in  love's  own  simple 
and  earnest  way  he  presents  to  her  the  one  great  object 
of  her  own  natural  desire  —  which  is  a  husband.  So  it  is 

[36] 


• 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


in  preaching  the  gospel.  For  the  natural  desire  of  every 
man's  soul  is  to  be  in  harmony  with  truth,  and  when 
the  preacher  yields  himself  wholly  to  truth  he  will  find 
that  preaching  is  only  courtship  on  a  higher  plane. 


TRUTH  is  so  plain  and  simple  that  we  should  be  careful 
not  to  use  many  words  in  presenting  it,  lest  we  obscure  it. 
We  should  simply  let  it  declare  itself  through  us  in  its  own 
way,  and  let  those  who  hate  it,  or  are  ignorant  of  it,  do 
the  arguing,  and  let  our  lives  do  the  proving. 


IN  dealing  with  intemperance,  as  with  every  other  sin, 
my  method  is  to  deal  directly  with  the  drunkard.  I  might 
set  the  torch  to  all  the  distilleries  and  grogshops  and  con 
vert  them  into  ashes,  but  the  drunkard  would  still  be  in 
bondage  to  the  infernal  appetite,  all  the  while  trying  to 
invent  some  method  by  which  to  gratify  it.  But  if  he  be 
converted  from  the  sin  while  in  the  presence  of  it,  then  he 
is  doubly  trained  and  doubly  saved. 


THE  two  greatest  works  that  were  ever  done  on  this  earth 
were  accomplished  without  secrecy  and  in  public.     I  al- 

[37] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


lude  to  the  instituting  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  and 
the  planting  of  democracy  in  this  country.  And  as  I  am 
a  child  of  both,  I  say  cursed  is  everything  that  is  done 
within  darkened  windows  and  tiled  doors. 


TELL  me  how  much  sacrificial  love  a  man  has  for  his 
fellowman,  and  I  will  tell  you  how  much  true  greatness 
there  is  in  him,  and  what  he  is  worth  to  the  community. 


No  matter  how  little  a  man  may  know,  when  once  his 
heart  becomes  fixed  upon  a  noble  object  he  should  no 
longer  bewail  his  ignorance,  for  the  very  truth  of  the  ob 
ject  itself,  if  he  fully  yields  to  it,  will  furnish  him  with  all 
the  wisdom  and  knowledge  that  he  will  need.  One  truth 
always  has  power  and  understanding  with  another. 


THE  most  dangerous  snare  for  young  women,  and  the 
greatest  incentive  to  young  men  to  become  licentious,  is  that 
popular  society  of  men  and  women  which  holds  up  its 
hands  against  the  woman  whose  chastity  has  been  violated, 
while  with  outstretched  arms  it  receives  the  libertine  that 
seduced  her.  There  can  be  no  greater  mockery  of  virtue, 

[38] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


nor  no  greater  hyprocisy,  than  this  barbarous  custom  of 
shutting  out  the  girl  because  she  could  not  control  two 
natures,  and  receiving  the  man,  who  is  guilty  of  the  whole 
crime.  God  ever  deliver  all  innocent  young  people  from 
such  society. 


WHEN  a  man  gets  into  a  condition  of  mind  and  heart 
where  he  cannot  cry  in  sympathy  with  others  in  trouble, 
that  man  is  in  a  dangerous  place.  For  a  tender  heart  is  the 
only  true  sign  of  a  pure  and  noble  soul. 


No  man  is  fit  to  take  a  wife  until  he  knows  the  difference 
between  love  and  lust.  But  very  few  men  know  that 
difference. 


TRYING  to  stop  the  progress  of  a  righteous  man  is  like 
trying  to  stop  the  onward  flow  of  a  stream  of  water.  He 
apparently  stops,  but  he  is  only  growing  in  strength  to 
sweep  everything  before  him,  which  he  will  surely  do. 


I  HAVE  seen  a  great  many  persons  who  were  slaves  by 
law,  but  the  most  servile  slaves  that  I  can  imagine  are  those 
who,  having  liberty  and  knowledge,  do  not  dare  to  say 

[39] 


^  THOUGHTS       I      MET  ^- 

and  do  what  they  believe  to  be  right,  for  fear  of  being  de 
nounced  by  those  who  they  know  are  in  no  sense  better  or 
wiser  than  themselves. 


A  MAN  never  knows  the  real  power  of  bravery  until  he 
can  look  an  enemy  in  the  eye,  and  tell  him  the  whole  truth 
of  wrong  doings,  without  the  excitement  of  anger  or  the 
urging  of  ill-will. 


YOUNG  man,  or  young  woman,  if  you  will  permit  me 
to  speak  to  you,  I  would  say,  if  you  have  anything  beyond 
the  average  in  the  way  of  talent,  learning,  or  wealth,  nestle 
right  down  among  the  masses ;  let  it  be  your  delight  to  as 
sociate  with  the  poor  of  your  community  in  a  way  that 
will  give  them  the  benefit  of  all  your  advantages;  and  be 
fore  you  are  ten  years  older  the  brightest  star  in  the  clear 
est  night  will  be  dim  compared  with  you.  There  is  noth 
ing  so  influential,  convincing,  elevating,  and  endearing  as 
honest  condescension. 


TWELVE  years  of  close  observation  and  thorough  in 
vestigation  have  revealed  to  me  the  fact  that  those  who 
adopt  and  kindly  bring  up  orphans,  actuated  by  no  mo 
tive  but  love,  are  always  sure  to  prosper.  I  have  never 

[40] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


seen  a  single  exception.  In  fact,  there  can  be  no  exception; 
for  it  is  not  a  rule,  but  a  fixed  principle,  and  therefore 
cannot  fail. 


IT  is  no  more  of  a  miracle  for  God  to  heal  a  diseased 
body  completely,  no  matter  what  the  disease  is,  than  it  is 
for  a  machinist  to  repair  an  engine  that  was  made  by  his 
own  hands. 


GOD  never  placed  on  this  earth  more  than  one  human 
nature,  one  set  of  brains  and  one  mind.  And  if  we  will  al 
low  wisdom  and  charity  to  lead  us  in  between  circum 
stances,  we  will  come  out  declaring  that  all  men  and  minds 
are  equal. 


IF  every  man  were  compelled  to  bend  over  a  wash-tub 
for  two  hours,  just  once  a  year,  the  poor  widows  that  wash 
for  a  living  would  get  better  support  than  they  now  receive. 


No  man  is  disgraced  by  imprisonment.  A  man  is  known 
to  be  a  liar,  gambler,  swindler,  libertine,  and  a  deserter  of 
wife  and  children;  yet  he  is  fellowshipped  by  respectable 
society.  Finally  he  is  put  in  state  prison.  When  he  comes 
out  that  same  society  will  shun  him — not  because  he  has 

[41] 


^J-  THOUGHTS       I       MET  ^ 

been  a  bad  man,  for  they  associated  with  him  when  he 
was  living  in  crime;  but  merely  because  he  has  been  in 
prison  —  the  only  place  he  was  ever  in  where  he  had  to 
be  decent.  He  never  lived  so  long  before  in  his  life  without 
disgracing  the  community.  Many  of  his  old  associates, 
belonging  to  respectable  society,  used  to  meet  him  coming 
out  of  those  very  places  that  make  prisons  a  necessity, 
and  would  walk  and  chat  with  him.  But  when  they  meet 
him  coming  out  of  a  place  of  reform  they  are  ashamed  of 
him.  This  shows  how  completely  society  is  controlled  by 
pride  and  hypocrisy  (which  two  are  twins).  The  time 
to  be  ashamed  to  associate  with  a  bad  man  is  before  he 
goes  to  prison.  If  decent  people  would  exclude  from  their 
company  men  of  the  above  character,  society  would  mean 
something. 


CAN  you  tell  me  of  a  great  philosopher  or  poet  who  ever 
held  prejudice  against  any  race,  or  was  ashamed  to  asso 
ciate  with  any  decent  person  ? 


I  HAVE  often  heard  it  advised  that  people  should  not 
give  themselves  up  to  the  principle  of  frankness  in  speech 
and  action  until  they  have  money  to  back  it  up.  But  I 
consider  it  very  bad  advice;  for  if  a  man  is  mincing  and 

[42] 


^  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  ^ 

evasive  when  he  is  poor,  he  will  surely  be  dishonest  and 
domineering  when  he  is  rich.  There  is  no  power  in  wealth 
to  back  up  manhood.  It  requires  manhood  to  back  up 
wealth. 


THE  most  inhuman  and  barbarous  act  I  know  of  is 
that  of  forcing  a  girl  to  marry  against  her  will.  If  all 
children  born  of  such  marriages  should  turn  out  to  be 
cold-blooded  murderers,  it  would  not  be  a  matter  of  great 
wonder. 


WE  never  create  our  own  thoughts;  for  how  can  we 
think  of  a  thought  before  the  thought  comes. 


WE  often  hear  it  said  of  a  man  that  he  is  a  good  man, 
all  but  that  one  vice.  But  the  man  who  has  one  vice  is 
as  really  ruled  by  sin  as  though  he  had  a  hundred  vices. 
This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  when  any  virtue  steps  in 
between  him  and  the  indulgence  of  that  vice  he  will  either 
sacrifice  the  virtue  or  be  put  in  torment. 


IF  you  buy  the  best  cows  the  Isle  of  Jersey  ever  pro 
duced,  and  offer  the  milk  to  the  city's  people  just  as  the 

[43] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


cows  gave  it  to  you,  eleven-twelfths  of  them  will  condemn 
it  as  impure,  and  turn  to  that  which  is  adulterated.  Just 
so  is  it  in  a  religious  sense.  Give  church  people  nothing 
but  the  pure  gospel,  and  most  of  them  will  feel  insulted 
and  wish  for  a  different  doctrine.  This  shows  that  by  the 
physical  we  can  see  how  the  spiritual  man  is  deluded;  for 
no  man  is  willing  to  be  cheated  in  an  article  of  food. 


IT  is  always  right  to  break  a  promise  to  keep  manhood ; 
it  is  alway  wrong  to  break  manhood  to  keep  a  promise. 


THERE  never  was  a  good-looking  bad  person;  nor  a  bad- 
looking  good  person.  Each  character  always  furnishes  its 
own  countenance. 


You  can  see  a  phase  of  insanity  in  the  countenance  of 
every  haughty  person.  And  it  is  not  strange;  for  how  can 
a  person  with  a  right  condition  of  mind  treat  a  brother 
or  sister  disdainfully  without  cause  ? 


A  GREAT  many  people  think  that  Christ  went  to  the 
marriage  in  Galilee  for  enjoyment.  I  have  known  minis 
ters  to  say  as  much.  But  it  is  an  absurd  thought.  He 

[44] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


went  there  as  He  went  everywhere,  merely  to  prove  His 
mission  and  do  His  work.  What  pleasure  could  there  be 
for  a  holy  being  like  Him  in  the  midst  of  a  people  that 
were  dead  in  sin,  and  which  people  He  knew  would  in 
a  few  days  murder  Him?  The  answer  He  made  His 
mother  when  she  told  Him  there  was  no  wine  shows  that 
He  was  not  there  for  enjoyment.  It  was  a  good  place  in 
which  to  be,  for  marriage  is  holy ;  and  there  could  not  have 
been  a  more  convenient  place  where  He  could  have  taken 
His  disciples  to  witness  a  miracle  that  would  enable  them 
to  believe  on  Him,  and  at  the  same  time  oblige  the  world 
to  bear  testimony;  for  they  confessed  that  the  wine  was 
good.  So  it  is  evident  that  He  was  there  for  a  great  work. 


THE  purer  our  character  is,  the  less  we  care  about  our 
reputation. 


No  matter  what  rules  I  lay  down  for  my  children,  nor 
how  I  talk  to  them,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  form  within  them 
anything  better  than  my  own  true  character. 


THE  way  a  lie  is  made  is  by  putting  the  truth  in  the 
wrong  place,  by  either  word  or  act.    Man  in  his  proper 

[45] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


place  or  condition  is  the  noblest  truth  we  see;  but  when 
he  is  out  of  that  right  place  and  condition,  he  is  the  most 
dangerous  lie  on  earth. 


I  NEVER  saw  a  great  stickler  for  creed  who  was  great  in 
charity.    Large  creed  always  means  small  love. 


A  MAN  cannot  impart,  neither  can  he  receive  and  appro 
priate,  anything  that  does  not  belong  to  the  moral  region 
in  which  he  lives,  for  the  very  reason  that  the  opposites 
cannot  dwell  together.  Hence,  "what  ye  mete  to  others 
shall  be  meted  to  you  again." 


WHEN  we  see  the  mantle  of  our  own  guilt  on  some  one 
else,  how  quickly  we  condemn  ourselves. 


THE  best,  wisest,  most  successful,  and  happiest  employer 
is  he  that  takes  his  employees  into  his  confidence  and  brings 
them  to  his  own  social  level.  If  I  owned  the  entire  busi 
ness  of  a  State,  I  would  not  have  a  man  in  my  employ  that 
I  could  not  associate  with.  Some  would  say  that  hired 
people,  thus  treated,  would  forget  their  place  as  servants. 

[46] 


ON       THE       HIGHWA 


But  if  they  did,  it  would  only  be  to  remember  that  they 
were  hired  friends.  No  man  is  fit  to  have  charge  of  men 
who  has  no  moral  or  social  interest  in  them. 


I  HAVE  never  seen  any  good  manners,  any  real  beauty, 
anything  noble  or  good,  outside  of  plain,  simple  natural 
ness. 


BORROWED  manners,  that  are  put  on  for  the  occasion, 
are  like  borrowed  clothes:  they  are  more  conspicuous  for 
their  ill-fitting  than  for  their  beauty. 


IT  is  both  unnatural  and  unvirtuous  for  men  and  women 
to  be  ashamed  or  afraid  to  speak  in  each  other's  presence 
of  anything  that  is  natural.  I  do  not  say,  nor  think,  that  all 
persons  who  have  such  fears  and  shame  are  licentious, 
but  do  say  they  are  in  bondage  to  the  fear  of  licentious 
ness;  also,  that  it  is  a  sin  for  them  to  be  in  such  bondage. 
For  no  person  can  be  in  strict  harmony  with  truth  while 
having  such  fear  and  shame.  It  is  right  and  proper  for  a 
woman  to  say  anything  to  a  man  that  she  would  say  to  a 
woman,  or  to  say  anything  to  an  audience  of  men  and 
women  that  she  would  say  to  a  woman.  It  is  right  and 

[47] 


THOUGHTS       I  •    MET 


proper  for  a  man  to  say  to  a  woman  anything  that  he 
would  say  to  a  man,  or  to  say  anything  to  an  audience  of 
men  and  women  that  he  would  say  to  a  man.  It  is  a  great 
strategy  of  the  devil  to  make  us  ashamed  of  our  nature. 
When  we  become  ashamed  of  that,  degradation  of  moral 
and  physical  life  is  sure  to  commence  in  some  way,  since 
we  always  abuse  or  allow  to  be  abused  any  right  thing 
that  we  are  ashamed  of.  There  is  no  person  on  earth  who 
can  give  a  reason  why  we  should  be  ashamed  of  anything 
that  is  natural,  because  there  is  no  reason  to  give.  There 
is  always  the  most  virtue  where  there  is  the  least  shielding 
and  evading  of  nature  in  speaking.  Lust  is  always  con 
cealing  and  evasive  in  language  when  in  the  presence  of 
ladies.  But  virtue  always  speaks  out  as  plainly  about  one 
part  of  nature  as  another.  The  more  nature  is  concealed 
bv  language  in  the  presence  of  young  people,  the  more 
curious  it  makes  them,  and  consequently  the  more  easily 
deceived.  Of  course,  as  there  is  sin  in  the  world,  there  will 
have  to  be  concealments  in  dress;  but  concealing  nature 
by  language  aids  sin. 


ONE  of  the  grandest  scenes  that  ever  greets  our  eyes  is 
a  good  grandmother  kindly  caring  for  her  little  grandchild. 
It  is  the  afternoon  of  one  generation  leading  into  life  the 

[48] 


-4  ON      THE      HIGHWAY  ^ 

early  morn  of  another.  Of  all  the  grand  things  that  out- 
grand  each  other,  what  is  more  grand  than  a  good  grand 
mother  ? 


THE  best  grammar  is  any  method  of  speaking  by  which 
you  can  make  yourself  the  best  and  quickest  understood. 


IT  is  easy  to  know  those  who  have  been  delivered  from 
the  power  of  sin;  for  they  always  have  the  character  of 
their  Deliverer.  Their  chief  and  constant  joy  is  in  deliv 
ering  others.  When  church  people  seek  amusements,  it 
is  evident  that  they  have  not  the  spirit  of  their  profession. 
If  I  have  been  delivered  from  an  awful  death,  how  can  I 
be  amused  when  I  see  others  in  the  jaws  of  the  same  death, 
and  at  the  same  time  have  Christian  love  in  my  heart  ? 


WHEN  we  are  walking  uprightly,  with  our  minds  fixed 
on  Christ,  and  come  into  a  place  where  it  is  dark  and 
cheerless,  we  can  feel  assured  that  a  great  blessing  awaits 
us  close  ahead.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we  receive  a 
great  blessing  we  may  be  sure  of  a  great  trial  immediately 
after.  This  is  Christian  growth.  The  dark  and  discour 
aging  season  gives  us  occasion  to  exercise  faith  and  trust 

[49] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


by  which  we  are  brought  into  a  more  blessed  place,  and 
the  blessing  we  receive  gives  us  strength  for  the  next  trial. 
Thus  it  is,  and  ever  will  be,  all  the  way  along.  Each  bless 
ing  prepares  us  for  trial,  and  each  trial  brings  us  greater 
blessing,  till  finally  we  shall  be  tried  and  blessed  into  end 
less  joy. 


TRUE  ability  does  not  consist  in  a  great  store  of  book 
knowledge,  but  in  that  condition  of  mind  that  enables  one 
to  see  and  act  the  right  at  all  times  and  under  all  circum 
stances. 


THE  true  man  of  God  is  never  at  a  loss  for  a  sermon. 
What  and  how  he  is  going  to  preach  is  never  a  question 
with  him.  And  why  should  it  be  ?  If  our  lungs  are  filled 
with  air,  what  can  we  exhale  but  air?  If  a  man's  heart 
is  filled  with  God,  what  can  he  speak  but  Godliness  ? 


I  HAVE  viewed  warfare  from  every  possible  standpoint 
to  see  if  I  could  discover  anything  in  it  to  make  it  tolerable, 
but  have  utterly  failed  to  find  in  it  a  single  quality  that  is 
not  degrading  to  manhood.  The  soul  of  warfare  is  pride, 
and  pride  is  never  a  worker  of  good,  but  always,  without 
a  single  exception,  a  worker  of  evil.  No  matter  how  great 

[50] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


the  evil  is  over  which  men  fight,  the  war,  with  its  awful 
results,  is  always  a  greater  evil.  If  it  was  only  the  loss  of 
life,  limb,  and  health,  it  might  not  be  so  bad.  But  war 
does  not  end  with  these.  A  war  always  lasts  as  long  as  it 
is  remembered  by  the  combatants  and  their  descendants. 
Who,  after  considering  all  the  hatred  and  revengeful  feel 
ing  that  exists  in  the  breasts  of  the  vanquished,  and  the 
malice  and  pride  in  the  breasts  of  the  victors,  —  all  these 
elements  of  wickedness  that  are  passed  down  from  gener 
ation  to  generation;  children  nursing  all  these  taints  in 
their  mother's  milk;  their  young  minds  poisoned  by  war 
stories  and  wicked  sentiments  from  parent's  lips,  —  can 
say  conscientiously  that  war  does  not  always  bring  a  greater 
curse  than  it  removes  ?  Knowing,  as  I  do,  that  the  human 
family  has  never  been  benefited  by  war,  and  that  the  only 
way  to  deliver  people  from  any  kind  of  wrong  is  by  con 
stantly  preaching  the  truth  in  the  spirit  of  love,  when  I  re 
member  the  awful  horrors  of  war,  I  think  that  warfare 
surely  must  have  originated  with  the  devil,  and  should  ex 
ist  only  in  hell. 


IT  has  long  been  a  common  saying  that  no  woman  can 
be  a  lady  who  washes  and  scrubs.  Well,  if  purpose  gives 
character  to  action  (and  we  all  agree  that  it  does),  then  if 

[51] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


it  is  unladylike  to  wash  and  scrub,  it  must  be  much  more 
unladylike  to  have  clean  dishes,  clean  houses,  or  clean 
clothes.  O  Pride,  what  a  blind  liar  you  are! 


THERE  is  no  secret  society  of  any  kind  that  does  not, 
either  in  its  constitution  or  by-laws,  exclude  some  fixed 
principle  of  truth. 


A  CHRISTIAN  is  like  a  brave,  zealous  explorer.    He  is 
always  breaking  through  into  new  regions. 


IN  the  highest  sense,  no  man  can  own  more  than  his 
living.  For  by  what  principle  of  truth  can  a  man  need 
more  than  he  can  properly  use,  and  therefore  how  can  he 
own  more  than  he  needs?  Hence  he  that  has  more  than 
his  living  under  his  control  is  only  a  steward  under  God 
to  those  who  are  intrusted  with  different  but  equally  as 
good  gifts  as  that  of  acquiring  or  managing  property. 


A  GREAT  many  people  have  fears  that  the  Catholics  will 
get  control  of  this  country.  I  am  not  a  Catholic,  but  I 
say  this,  that  if  the  Catholics  do  get  control  of  the  countiy, 

[52] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


it  will  be  by  the  course  of  nature;  and  whatever  is  natural 
is  right.  What  I  mean  to  say  is  that  the  Catholics  are  true 
to  nature,  and  have  all  the  children  they  can;  most  of 
the  Protestants  do  all  they  can  to  avoid  having  children. 
Therefore,  if  they  lose  control  of  the  country  it  will  be 
their  own  fault. 


THERE  is  nothing  more  unnatural  than  secrecy.  This 
can  be  proved  by  children ;  for  there  is  nothing  harder  for 
a  child  to  do  than  to  keep  a  secret. 


IN  many  cases  it  is  wisdom,  as  well  as  manly  strength, 
to  know  who  your  enemies  are  and  not  to  let  them  know 
that  you  know  of  it. 


ONE  of  the  most  atrocious  things  that  I  can  think  of  is 
vaccination.  I  would  just  as  soon  think  of  introducing  a 
little  wickedness  into  the  moral  system  of  my  boy,  in  order 
to  keep  out  greater  wickedness,  as  I  would  think  of  afflict 
ing  his  physical  system  with  a  prescribed  amount  of  foul 
ness  in  order  to  keep  out  a  greater  amount  of  corruption. 
Why  not  advise  my  boy  to  steal  a  small  amount  when  he 
is  ten  years  old,  in  order  to  prevent  his  being  a  burglar 
when  twenty-five  ?  Or  to  lie,  in  order  to  be  truthful  when 

[53] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


older  ?  Or  to  be  a  little  licentious,  in  order  to  be  virtuous  ? 
If  the  receiving  of  filth  into  the  blood  will  fortify  the  body 
against  disease,  why  would  not  the  commission  of  a  few 
crimes  fortify  the  soul  against  sin  ?  No !  No !  Vaccination 
out-heathens  heathenism. 


A  TRUE  man  has  but  one  set  of  manners.  It  is  all  he 
needs:  for  he  will  treat  his  equals  with  courtesy  for  what 
they  are,  and  his  inferiors  for  what  they  ought  to  be. 


NEVER  employ  a  man  who  is  afraid  of  you  (unless  it 
is  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  man  of  him,  which  indeed 
would  be  noble);  for  the  only  difference  between  a  cow 
ardly  servant  and  a  pickpocket  is  that  you  pay  one  for 
robbing  you,  while  the  other  gets  only  what  he  steals. 


WHENEVER  I  have  a  great  trouble  (and  I  have  had 
troubles  that  were  worse  than  death),  I  always  say  that 
God  is  the  Supreme  Being  of  the  universe,  and  therefore 
has  complete  power  over  everything  that  is  or  can  be. 
Knowing  that  the  trouble  can  give  me  nothing  but  pain, 
and  then  only  as  I  keep  my  mind  on  it,  and  that  God  will 

'[54] 


-*}-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  ^p- 

give  me  nothing  but  peace,  I  take  my  mind  off  the  trouble 
and  fix  it  on  the  Lord,  and  always  receive  peace  immedi 
ately.  I  always  remember  these  two  things :  First,  if  God 
could  not  overcome  the  greatest  trouble,  then  that  trouble 
would  be  the  supreme  being,  and  God  would  not.  Sec 
ond,  that  I  have  power  to  stay  my  mind  wherever  I  will 
have  it,  and  that  I  can  have  it  fixed  upon  only  one  power 
at  a  time.  So  when  I  fix  it  upon  the  power  of  peace,  that 
minute  peace  begins  to  come.  This  is  not  speculation, 
but  my  own  real  experience. 


THINK  not  to  make  yourself  great  by  letters,  wealth,  or 
office,  young  man.  Show  me  the  man  who  has  most  love 
for  man,  and  I  will  show  you  the  greatest  man  on  earth. 


No  man  can  truthfully  be  called  civilized  who  is  not 
more  willing  to  work  morally  and  contribute  money  to 
win  men  from  the  wrong  than  he  is  to  punish  the  wrong 
when  it  has  been  committed. 


DID  it  ever  occur  to  you  why  children  always  listen  to 
each  other  with  such  deep  interest,  when  they  meet  and 

[55] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


talk  together  ?  It  is  because  they  talk  only  what  they  know 
and  show  what  they  have  received.  This  is  a  good  thing 
for  us  tQ  remember  when  we  talk  in  prayer-meeting,  and, 
instead  of  speculating,  let  us  simply  testify  what  we  really 
know,  and  show  what  we  have  received  from  the  Lord. 
If  we  should  do  this  we  should  all  soon  become  "  fishers  of 
men." 


THE  best  way  to  get  into  the  best  society  is  to  go  to  work 
and  make  it,  and  make  it  of  such  ones  as  are  nearest  your 
hand,  regardless  of  their  past  life.  I  always  remember  that 
if  I  am  not  capable  of  making  good  society,  I  am  not  fit 
to  be  in  it  after  others  have  made  it. 


WHEN  a  child  gets  hurt  it  should  always  be  allowed  to 
hold  its  hand  on  the  place  as  long  as  it  wishes  to ;  for  there 
is  a  soothing  power  in  one's  own  hand  that  is  not  in  any 
thing  else.  After  the  child  is  willing  to  take  its  hand  away, 
then  the  wound  may  be  dressed. 


WHAT  an  awful  hell  Shoddy  must  be  in  all  the  time! 
When  at  home,  it  is  plotting  to  get  into  the  society  of  some 
family  that  does  not  want  it,  and  for  which  it  is  not  in 

[56] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


any  sense  qualified.  When  on  the  street,  it  is  constantly 
watching  for  a  nod  from  some  prominent  person  who,  at 
some  former  time,  by  force  of  circumstances,  has  been 
compelled  to  speak  to  it.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
ready  at  any  moment  to  look  the  other  way,  or  lower  the 
umbrella,  or  drop  its  eye,  to  avoid  recognizing  some  one 
whom  it  considers  inferior.  When  abroad,  it  always  tries 
to  pass  for  one  in  a  different  station  —  it  tries  to  be  some 
body  else.  This  shows  how  badly  it  hates  itself.  Shoddy, 
however  much  it  may  be  hated  by  others,  is  always  hated 
more  by  itself. 


WHEN  a  man  really  knows  a  thing  he  does  not  argue 
about  it.  WThen  he  speaks  of  it  he  simply  declares  the 
truth.  It  is  the  man  who  never  knows,  but  always  guesses, 
who  is  ever  ready  for  an  argument. 


THERE  are  no  people  in  the  world  who  are  so  far  from 
and  so  ignorant  of  the  real  meaning  of  their  profession  as 
church  people  in  general.  So  few,  indeed,  are  they  who 
bear  the  witnessing  power,  in  any  way,  that  we  are  con 
stantly  reminded  of  our  Saviour's  words :  "  Strait  is  the 
gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and 

[57] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


few  there  be  that  find  it."  The  reason  of  this  is  because 
the  people  do  not  have  the  gospel  held  up  before  them  and 
explained  in  its  simplicity,  nakedness,  and  reality.  The 
Bible  is  the  easiest  book  to  understand  of  any  in  the  world, 
if  one's  heart  is  only  right;  especially  so  is  the  New  Testa 
ment.  The  simplest  and  greatest  of  all  things  ever  spoken 
or  written  are  the  first  four  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
These  speak  the  words  and  works  of  Christ.  And  there 
is  enough  in  any  one  of  the  four  for  any  man's  salvation. 
But  the  ministers  do  not,  as  a  rule,  preach  Christ,  nor  urge 
their  hearers  to  fully  believe  and  accept  all  His  words. 
Christ  says,  "Whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And  if  any  man  will  sue 
thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy 
cloak  also.  And  whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile, 
go  with  him  twain.  Give  to  every  one  that  asketh  of  thee, 
and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee,  turn  not  thou 
away."  All  these  injunctions  are  to  be  accepted  just  as  they 
read,  and  literally  obeyed.  Otherwise  they  can  be  of  no 
use  whatever.  Obedience  to  them  proves  to  the  world  the 
reality  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  in  a  way  that  is  over 
whelmingly  convincing,  and  also  shows  an  abiding  trust  in 
God.  But  how  many  ministers  accept  and  declare  them  just 
as  they  read  ?  Not  one  in  three  hundred.  The  people  look 

[58] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


upon  the  ministers  as  guides,  and  accept  what  they  say  as 
gospel.  And  the  ministers  are  satisfied  with  an  indorsement 
of  their  congregations.  Therefore  they  study  and  talk  not 
what  the  Bible  says  and  really  means,  but  what  they  know 
will  not  be  objectionable  to  the  people.  For  he  that  is  not 
living  in  the  fear  and  service  of  God  seeks  to  please,  and 
fears  to  offend  those  of  whom  he  receives  support.  Sermons 
are  arranged  very  much  the  same  as  novels.  The  novelist 
usually  takes  a  truth  to  start  with,  but,  as  a  rule,  gradually 
changes  it  to  a  lie.  Ministers,  to  a  great  extent,  do  about 
the  same.  They  select  a  saving  truth  for  a  text,  but  for 
want  of  Christian  experience,  and  through  pride,  a  desire 
for  worldly  honor,  and  above  all  through  unbelief,  they 
blur,  distort,  and  mystify  the  truth  so  that  all  the  people 
see  is  the  intellectual  ability  and  speculative  aptness  of  the 
ministers.  Thus  the  religion  of  to-day  is  for  the  most  part 
a  medley  of  convenient  beliefs,  guesses,  and  unfounded 
hopes.  No  one  can  preach  the  gospel  who  has  not  by  ex 
perience  received  a  knowledge  of  the  truth.  And  no  one 
can  receive  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  in  any  way  other  than 
by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  coming  and  dwelling  in  his  heart; 
and  His  spirit  can  only  abide  with  those  who  accept  His 
words  as  He  has  spoken  them,  and  fully  trust  Him.  But 
the  person  who  speaks  of  fully  trusting  the  Lord  for  every- 

[59] 


-«f  THOUGHTS       I       MET  ^ 

thing,  and  under  all  circumstances,  is  denounced  as  a  fa 
natic;  and  any  one  who  testifies  to  having  been  delivered 
from  any  great  affliction,  such  as  hunger,  cold,  sickness, 
or  bad  habits,  wholly  by  trusting  in  Christ,  without  ask 
ing  any  human  assistance,  is  actually  looked  upon  as  a  dan 
gerous  person,  and  sometimes  the  people  of  his  church 
are  cautioned  against  him  by  the  pastor.  Right  here  is 
where  the  church  gives  the  lie  to  its  profession,  shows  its 
ignorance  of  the  plan  and  power  of  salvation,  and  gives 
the  world  cause  to  doubt  the  word  of  God.  The  church 
declares  that  the  Bible  is  true;  and  the  Bible  declares  that 
God  will  supply  all  our  needs.  This  includes  everything, 
—  food,  clothes,  health,  wisdom, —  and  that  He  will  guide 
us  under  all  circumstances,  so  that  we  can  always  implic 
itly  trust  Him  to  show  us  what  to  do  at  all  times.  Yet,  if 
a  person  stands  up  in  prayer-meeting  and  testifies  to  being 
healed  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith,  without  medicine, 
the  minister  will  call  that  person  an  heretic,  saying  all  the 
while  that  the  Lord  uses  means,  and  that  the  day  of  mir 
acles  is  past,  discrediting  the  promise  of  our  Lord,  which 
says,  "  If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye 
shall  ask  what  ye  will  -and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you."- 
John  xv.,  7.  And  also  another,  which  says,  "When  ye 
pray,  what  things  soever  ye  desire,  believe  that  ye  receive 

[60] 


^  ON      THE      HIGHWAY  ^ 

them,  and  ye  shall  have  them." — Mark  XL,  24.  Out  of 
many  millions  of  church  people,  there  are  few  that  be 
lieve  and  trust  in  these  precious  promises  of  our  dear 
Saviour;  but  the  few  who  do  believe  are  they  that  com 
prise  the  church  of  Christ.  These  souls  are  constantly 
scoffed  at,  by  both  the  world  and  the  popular  church,  but 
you  never  hear  the  world  condemning  the  popular  church 
for  its  faith;  for  the  popular  church  has  no  more  faith  in 
Christ  than  the  world  has. 


IT  is  always  easy  to  tell  the  genuine  from  the  quack. 
The  quack  is  forever  trying  to  make  the  world  believe  that 
he  is  a  walking  miracle,  and  can  never  be  equalled.  But 
it  is  the  constant  joy  and  effort  of  the  genuine  to  make 
others  as  proficient  as  himself. 


ANYTHING  a  man  has   which  is  not  a  blessing  to  all 
others  is  a  curse  to  himself. 


How  unmeaning,  unprofitable,  and  silly  it  is  for  men  to 
march  through  the  streets  with  guns,  swords,  and  uniforms ! 
I  know  that  there  are  many  noble-hearted  men  who  belong 

[61] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


to  the  military  and  to  secret  societies,  which  only  goes  to 
show  how  easy  and  common  it  is  for  noble  and  intelligent 
men  to  be  brought  into  bondage  to  popular  delusions,  If 
a  man  is  on  the  right  side  of  his  nature  he  will  no  sooner 
think  of  parading  the  streets  with  a  musket  or  regalia  than 
he  would  think  of  walking  out  naked  when  mercury  was 
at  twenty  degrees  below  zero. 


WHEN,  standing  on  the  beach  near  the  mouth  of  a  sewer, 
I  saw  the  clean  waves  come  running  up  to  those  polluted 
waters,  taking  them  in  their  arms,  washing  them  from 
their  filth,  and  assimilating  them,  it  strikingly  reminded 
me  of  the  simplicity,  love,  and  zeal  of  a  true  Christian 
worker. 


I  HAVE  often  heard  it  said  that  no  woman  was  capable 
of  being  her  own  keeper.  But  I  never  heard  it  from  any 
but  the  mouth  of  a  tyrant  or  libertine.  There  are  millions 
of  single  women  who  are  pure.  Who  are  the  men  who  look 
after  them  ? 


THERE  would  be  just  as  much  wisdom  in  breaking  a 
child's  back  to  give  it  a  beautiful  form  as  there  is  in  break 
ing  its  will  to  make  it  a  pure  and  noble  person.  Any  ty- 

[62] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


rant  can  break  a  child's  will,  and  none  but  tyrants  do 
break  their  children's  will.  When  love,  patience,  and 
good  example  are  constantly  brought  to  bear  upon  a  child, 
its  mind  is  moulded  and  its  will  strengthened  in  the  truth ; 
but  the  child  whose  will  is  once  broken  is  generally  weak 
ened  for  life. 


NOTHING  is  so  immodest  as  mock-modesty,  for  it  plainly 
shows  a  disregard  for  virtue. 


THERE  is  no  time  when  a  man  is  so  unmindful  of  his 
intellect  or  learning  as  when  he  is  praying,  testifying,  or 
preaching  in  the  spirit. 


MIRTH  is  good,  but  fun  is  contemptible,  for  it  always 
does  harm.  Mirth  is  the  natural  element  of  righteous 
growth.  In  the  child,  as  well  as  in  the  lamb,  it  is  the  joy  of 
innocence.  In  the  adult  it  is  honest  labor  taking  a  rest. 
But  fun  is  always  indulged  at  the  expense  of  some  virtue. 
It  laughs  at  what  is,  or  what  ought  to  be,  some  one's  sor 
row.  In  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  and  in  all  persons  in 
their  different  conditions,  how  many  things  do  you  see  that 
you  really  think  ought  to  be  laughed  at  ?  If  I  laugh  and 
make  merry  when  my  fellowman  gets  drunk  and  reels, 

[63] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


when  he  flings  a  joke  at  Christianity,  or  when  he  makes  a 
fool  of  himself  in  any  way,  what  am  I  to  do  when  he  comes 
to  be  serious,  sober,  and  wise  ? 


IT  cannot  be  proved  that  a  man  was  ever  impoverished 
by  a  large  family  of  children.  Poverty  is  an  unnatural  con 
dition,  and  how  can  people  be  brought  into  unnaturalness 
by  conforming  strictly  to  nature  ?  But  numerous  are  they, 
on  almost  every  street,  who  are  impoverished  financially, 
physically,  and  spiritually  as  the  result  of  avoiding  chil 
dren. 


I  NEVER  contradict  a  liar,  because,  if  I  should,  he  might 
conceive  the  idea  that  I  thought  he  meant  to  tell  the  truth. 


THE  saying  that  "  God  helps  those  who  help  them 
selves"  is  false  in  every  sense.  It  puts  man  first,  and  God 
last.  If  I  can  help  myself,  what  do  I  want  God  to  help 
me  for?  No,  God  guides  and  helps  those  who  seek  and 
fully  trust  Him.  Whenever  I  have  been  greatly  straitened 
in  poverty,  or  sickness,  or  anything  else,  and  have  turned 
away  from  my  own  planning,  ceased  running  around  to 
hunt  for  work,  or  stopped  using  medicine  in  times  of  sick- 

[64] 


-•f  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -f^ 

ness,  and  have  gone  to  the  Lord  in  faith,  believing,  I  have 
always  been  delivered. 


EVERY  word  and  every  thing  has  a  surface-meaning.  It 
is  only  they  who  penetrate  to  the  core  who  get  a  profitable 
understanding  of  what  they  see  and  hear. 


WHEN  a  man  says  that  the  day  of  miracles  is  past,  it  is 
evident  that  he  is  not  living  a  Christian  life.  For  a  Chris 
tian  life  is  a  life  of  miracles.  The  conversion  of  a  soul  is 
the  greatest  miracle  ever  wrought ;  in  fact,  it  is  the  miracle 
for  which  all  other  miracles  were  wrought.  For  the  salva 
tion  of  souls  was  and  is  the  one  great  object.  Of  course 
the  Lord  heals  us  and  lifts  our  burdens  through  compas 
sion,  because  He  loves  us,  and  because  it  is  only  right  that 
we  should  be  well  and  clean  from  all  disease.  Loving, 
obeying,  and  trusting  God,  whom  no  living  man  has  seen; 
going  to  Him  with  all  troubles,  having  great  trials  and 
tribulation,  yet  being  kept  in  peace  and  joy;  giving  love 
for  hate ;  doing  good  for  evil ;  —  a  life  like  this  is  nothing 
less  than  a  succession  of  miracles.  And  there  are  those 
who  live  just  such  lives  as  this.  Viewing  them  from  a  hu 
man  standpoint,  nothing  seems  so  absurd  as  the  Lord's 

[65] 


THOUGHTS      I      MET 


commands  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  special  things.  What  could 
seem  more  unreasonable  than,  when  the  Israelites  were 
on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  tell  them  to  go  forward? 
Or  the  marching  around  Jericho  so  many  times,  in  order 
to  take  the  city  ?  How  unwise  it  seems  for  a  man  to  suffer 
himself  to  be  beaten,  robbed,  and  abused  in  every  way, 
without  offering  any  resistance!  Yet  our  Saviour  com 
mands  us  to  do  so.  But  the  wisdom  of  these  commands 
is  shown  in  the  result  of  obeying  them.  For  what  man 
ever  trusted  God  fully  under  any  circumstances,  and  as 
a  result  was  not  filled  with  joy  unspeakable?  Or,  what 
man  ever  pursued  a  course  of  non-resistance,  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  did  not  prove  by  so  doing  that  he  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  power  superior  to  that  of  his  persecutors  ?  When 
ever  non-resistance  is  actuated  by  Christian  principle,  it 
always  conquers;  for  by  sacrificing  the  physical,  the  en 
emy  is  brought  to  the  limit  of  his  power;  while  the  power 
of  spiritual  life  all  the  while  grows  more  prominent  and 
convincing. 


THE  true  definition  of  the  word  "lady"  is  "a  Christian 
woman  that  goes  about  doing  good."  Therefore,  if  the 
woman  who  bends  over  a  wash-tub  for  three  hours,  and 
then  reaches  up  to  a  clothes-line  for  an  hour,  and  leans  over 

[66] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


an  ironing-board  for  three  hours  more,  and  then  goes  to  see 
and  care  for  the  sick,  besides  being  always  glad  to  speak 
words  of  warning  and  wisdom  to  the  young  women  about 
her,  is  not  a  Christian  woman  going  about  doing  good, 
who  is  ? 


WHEN  I  remember  that  an  article  can  be  held  so  close 
to  my  eyes  that  I  cannot  see  it,  that  a  noise  can  be  made  so 
close  to  my  ears  that  I  cannot  hear  it,  and  that  I  can  be 
struck  so  hard  that  I  cannot  feel  it,  I  consider  the  use  of 
time,  distance,  and  degree. 


I  AM  glad  that  one  can  understand  the  word  of  God 
only  as  he  obeys  it. 


THE  earth  and  all  things  on  it,  and  the  heavens,  are  in 
some  way  symbolically  represented  by  man.  Whether  the 
thing  be  great  or  small,  good  or  bad,  beast,  fish,  or  reptile, 
mountain,  valley,  lake,  river,  or  cataract,  a  semblance  of 
them  all  can  be  seen  in  the  actions  or  conditions  of  man 
kind.  In  the  man  of  wealth  and  pride,  who  is  noted  only 
for  his  gold,  I  can  see  the  Alps,  piled  in  ice.  He  is  a  cold, 
worthless  mass  of  pride.  In  the  drunkard  we  can  see  a 
volcano,  pouring  out  polluting  lava.  Wrhen  passing  by  the 

[67] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


door  of  a  rum-hell  we  can  hear  the  sound  of  every  kind 
of  mean  and  vicious  beast,  from  the  growl  of  a  tiger,  the 
snarl  of  a  hyena,  to  the  hiss  of  a  serpent.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  can  see  everything  noble,  beautiful,  and  pure  in 
those  who  have  given  themselves  to  Christian  work.  They 
are  living  fountains  that  continually  pour  forth  rivers  of 
living  water.  In  a  family  where  perfect  love  reigns,  and 
all  is  beautiful  and  bright,  we  are  reminded  of  a  constel 
lation,  and  get  a  foresight  of  Heaven.  And  so  we  might  go 
on.  If  we  wish  to  see  great  and  wondrous  things,  the  first 
place  to  look  for  them  is  within  man.  If  we  cannot  see 
them  there  first,  we  shall  gain  nothing  by  traveling.  This 
earth  affords  no  wonders  to  him  who  has  looked  well  into 

human  nature. 

Though  I  mount  the  summit  of  the  skies, 

And  scan  creation  o'er, 
No  greater  wonder  meets  my  eyes 
Than  passes  by  my  door. 


THERE  is  never  any  truly  friendly  feeling  between  races 
that  never  intermarry. 


THE  two  greatest  and  most  sacred  powers  in  the  uni 
verse  are  those  at  which  all  impure  people  fling  the  most  in- 

[68] 


^  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  ^ 

fernal  slurs  and  which  are  made  the  objects  of  the  most 
vulgar  jokes.  And  there  is  nothing  of  which  sinful  people 
are  so  much  ashamed  as  of  these  two  powers.  I  mean  the 
power  of  salvation  and  the  power  of  human  reproduction. 


MAN'S  understanding  is  as  really  related  to  a  knowledge 
of  every  truth  in  nature  as  are  his  lungs  related  to  all  the 
natural  elements  that  are  in  the  air  that  he  breathes.  And 
if  we  were  willing  to  make  as  honest  use  of  the  truths  that 
we  do  understand  as  we  are  of  the  air  we  breathe  we 
should  not  be  so  ignorant  as  we  are. 


WHAT  a  great  blessing  it  is  that  all  the  truly  essential 
things  are  easily  produced,  and  easily  understood.  The 
harder  things  are  to  produce  and  learn,  the  less  essential 
they  are  to  life  or  real  happiness. 


OF  all  temporal  things,  there  is  nothing  that  is  so  sacred 
as  marriage.  So  sacred  is  it  that  our  Saviour  used  it  to 
illustrate  some  of  the  most  precious  truths  of  salvation ;  and 
yet  there  is  no  earthly  institution  that  is  so  lightly  esteemed, 
so  little  understood,  and  so  much  abused.  There  is  nothing 

[69] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


that  is  so  false  as  a  false  marriage ;  and  yet  most  marriages 
are  false.  Nothing  is  rightly  done  but  that  which  is  done 
for  a  right  purpose,  and  few  indeed  are  they  that  stop  to 
consider  what  is  the  right  purpose  of  marriage.  This  is 
proved  by  the  ever-present  great  number  of  divorces,  and 
the  still  greater  number  of  couples  who  are  separated  in 
heart,  if  not  in  law.  The  natural  and  highest  object  of 
marriage  is  reproduction.  The  marriage  that  has  not  this 
for  its  object,  or  that  is  opposed  to  it,  is  a  false  and  un 
happy  union.  However  much  a  couple  may  like  each  other 
when  they  marry,  if  they  avoid  having  children,  they  will 
in  time  become  obnoxious  to  each  other,  for  this  reason : 
when  persons  hate  the  true  object  of  any  institution,  their 
hatred  always  antagonizes  the  real  power  of  the  institution. 
And  the  real  power  of  matrimony  is  love.  True  matrimony 
is  always  characterized  by  two  controlling  qualities.  One 
is  that  constraining  love  which  always  proves  the  natural 
affinity  between  the  man  and  woman.  The  other  is  the 
strong  desire  for  children.  These  two  qualities  cannot  be 
separated,  because  the  object  of  the  matrimonial  institu 
tion  is  the  perpetuation  of  life,  and  how  can  Love  abide 
with  those  who  oppose  her  object?  People  who  are  op 
posed  to  having  children  never  ought  to  marry.  First,  be 
cause  they  will  live  a  life  of  sin,  in  violating  nature  to  avoid 

[70] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


children;  secondly,  because  they  are  liable  to  have  chil 
dren  in  spite  of  themselves,  and  all  children  that  come  into 
the  world  against  the  wishes  of  their  parents  are  apt  to  be 
badly  organized,  and  wicked.  They  are  almost  always 
sure  to  have  some  great  defect,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  for  how  can  a  marriage  that  is  false  to  nature  produce 
that  which  is  natural.  I  do  not  say  that  all  persons  born 
of  false  marriage  are  great  criminals,  but  I  do  say  that  all 
great  criminals  were  born  of  false  marriage.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  no  murderer,  robber,  atheist,  oppressor,  wife- 
beater,  deserter  of  family,  was  ever  born  of  true  matri 
mony.  For  love  always  stamps  her  children  with  good 
character  and  a  belief  in  God.  But  if  the  marriage  is  false, 
and  love  wanting,  where  will  the  child  get  its  character? 
Matrimony  is  always  an  extremist,  one  way  or  the  other. 
It  either  loves  or  hates.  And  words  have  not  power  to  ex 
press  the  hating  and  sorrowing  condition  of  a  woman's 
mind  and  heart  while  bearing  a  child  by  a  man  whom  she 
hates.  This  condition  has  its  effect  upon  the  offspring  for 
evil,  as  really  as  the  opposite  does  for  good.  The  reason 
why  there  are  so  many  bad  marriages  is  not  because  people 
mean  to  do  wrong  ;  it  is  because  they  mistake  lust  for  love. 
It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  the  majority  of  men  who  marry 
are  led  to  do  so  by  lust,  thinking,  and  causing  the  women 

[71] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


they  marry  to  think,  it  is  love.  In  getting  married,  men  as 
a  rule  are  deceived  only  in  one  way — that  is,  by  their  own 
lusts.  But  women  are  deceived  in  two  ways.  First,  if  men 
make  favorable  appearances  and  good  promises,  the  ma 
jority  of  women  will  confide  in  them  and  give  them  their 
affections,  without  any  witness  of  love  whatever;  secondly, 
a  very  large  percentage  of  women  are,  by  false  teachings, 
deluded  into  believing  that  it  is  right  to  marry  for  a  home 
and  support;  and  though  there  be  no  affinity,  they  marry, 
hoping  that  they  will  learn  to  love  their  husbands.  Such 
are  the  greatest  mistakes  that  women  can  make,  and  yet 
there  are  no  mistakes  more  common  than  these.  No 
woman  can  continue  to  love  a  man  after  she  finds  that  she 
is  to  him  only  an  object  of  lust.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
learning  to  love  in  matrimony.  'Love  comes  spontaneously, 
or  not  at  all.  And  the  woman  who  marries  for  a  home  and 
support  does  no  better  than  the  unmarried  woman  who 
sells  her  body.  So  in  either  case  it  amounts  to  nothing 
more  than  legalized  prostitution,  because  it  is  not  a  love 
union ;  and  all  children  born  of  such  marriages  are  almost 
sure  to  be  just  as  devoid  of  love  as  the  marriages  are.  There 
is  only  one  sure  way  of  knowing  whom  to  marry.  When  a 
man  meets  a  woman  whose  presence  animates  his  whole 
moral  nature,  and  brings  to  his  heart  a  deep  feeling  of  re- 

[72] 


-•}-  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -{^ 

sponsibility  for  her,  which  actually  impels  him  to  her,  with 
out  exciting  his  physical  nature  in  the  least,  he  may  know 
that  this  is  true  matrimonial  love.  When  a  woman  meets 
a  man  whose  presence  quickens  her  admiration  for  pure 
and  noble  manhood,  and  inspires  sacred  thoughts,  and  she 
feels  drawn  to  him  with  perfect  trust  and  confidence,  and 
this  without  any  effort  upon  his  part  at  the  first,  she  may 
settle  it  in  her  mind  that  he  is  the  man  for  her.  Men  and 
women  are  never  animated  by  and  drawn  to  each  other, 
in  the  manner  described,  by  any  power  but  true  matri 
mony.  Whenever  physical  passion  leads,  marriage  is  never 
right.  But  when  love  leads,  proved  by  sacred  emotions  and 
thought,  how  can  marriage  be  wrong  ?  A  very  common 
saying  among  single  people  is,  "  I  would  marry,  if  I  could 
find  the  right  one."  The  way  to  find  the  right  one  is  to 
have  a  right  condition  of  mind.  For  whenever  people  de 
sire  to  marry  for  right  and  holy  purposes,  they  are  always 
brought  in  contact  with  the  right  one.  This  is  done  by  the 
power  of  affinity,  whenever  it  is  allowed  to  work.  There  is 
an  opportunity  for  every  person  to  meet  and  marry  the 
right  one.  But  the  trouble  is  that  men  are  so  blinded  with 

o 

lust,  and  women  so  perverted  with  pride,  having  their 
mind  fixed  on  home,  dress,  and  position,  that  they  cannot 
tell  when  they  meet  the  right  one.  Let  the  heart  be  deter- 

[73] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


mined  to  marry  only  for  true  love,  and  nature,  guided  by 
her  God,  will  always  form  the  right  union. 

In  true  matrimony,  the  question  of  rulership  never  comes 
up.  Naturally  the  man  is  ruler.  Happiness  never  exists  in 
a  house  where  the  wife  rules,  because  it  is  unnatural;  and 
happiness  and  unnaturalness  cannot  dwell  together.  But 
what  does  ruling  mean  ?  The  majority  of  people  think  it 
means  giving  an  order  and  enforcing  it;  but  that  idea  is 
false  in  every  sense.  Any  cowardly  and  brutal  man  that 
has  physical  strength  and  advantage  can  always  enforce 
submission,  and  none  but  cowardly  and  brutal  men  do  it. 
To  rule  means  to  lead,  to  provide,  to  be  responsible,  and  to 
console.  All  of  this  is  the  work  of  love.  And  nature  itself 
teaches  us  that  a  woman  who  is  bringing  forth  and  bring 
ing  up  children  should  be  relieved  of  all  other  cares.  Every 
burden  that  a  woman  has  to  bear  while  in  a  reproductive 
state  has  an  ill  effect  upon  the  child.  And  bringing  up  chil 
dren  is  such  a  peculiar  and  tender  work  that  it  demands  an 
undisturbed  condition  of  the  mother's  mind.  Woman  is 
the  weaker  vessel,  but  in  none  but  a  physical  sense  is  she 
the  inferior  of  the  man.  I  know  that  the  majority  of 
men  think  that  a  woman  is  inferior  to  a  man  in  every  sense; 
but  that  idea  is  strictly  heathen,  and  no  man  has  ever  been 
able  to  point  to  any  fixed  principle  of  truth  that  would  sup- 

[74] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


port  it.  To  prove  that  the  woman  is  the  equal  of  the  man 
in  everything  but  physical  strength,  observe  the  woman 
with  several  young  children,  suddenly  widowed,  with  no 
means  of  support  but  her  hands.  Though  she  has  not  the 
physical  strength  of  a  man,  yet  see  with  what  sterling 
energy,  wise  management,  intellectual  and  moral  training, 
she  brings  those  children  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  It 
is  always  a  matter  of  wonder  to  those  around  her  how  she 
succeeds  so  well ;  for  to  support  a  family  properly  is  about 
all  that  the  average  able-bodied  man  can  do,  without  having 
to  look  after  the  mental  and  moral  training  of  the  children, 
for  that  his  wife  does.  Of  course  the  hard  work  of  support 
ing  a  family  injures  any  woman  that  has  it  to  do,  because  it 
is  not  natural  for  a  woman  to  do  hard  labor.  Woman  is 
weaker  than  man  because  she  is  finer,  and  ordained  to  do 
a  finer  work.  Moulding  a  child's  mind,  tempering  its 
whole  nature,  implanting  love  in  its  soul,  without  which  it 
would  be  nothing  more  than  a  brute,  giving  it  a  completely 
rounded  character, —  all  these  combined  form  a  work  that 
demands  the  finest  mind  and  the  best  judgment  of  any 
work  on  earth.  And  this  is  the  work  that  every  true  and 
faithful  mother  does.  While  doing  this  work  there  is  con 
stant  communication  between  the  mother's  mind  and  the 
child's  mind.  Whether  the  child  is  in  its  mother's  pres- 

[75] 


-•}-  THOUGHTS       I       MET  -J^ 

ence  or  out  of  it,  the  communication  goes  on  the  same,  and 
so  continues  until  the  child  reaches  a  certain  stage.  This 
being  the  case,  nature  demands  that  the  mother's  mind  be 
free  from  all  other  work.  So  it  is  just  as  natural  for  a 
woman  to  expect  and  desire  her  husband  to  rule  as  it  is 
natural  for  him  to  rule. 

True  matrimony  is  never  ashamed  of  nature.  The  wom 
an  that  is  married  in  the  right  spirit,  and  is  living  in  the 
true  order  of  marriage,  never  lives  in  seclusion  months,  or 
even  weeks,  before  giving  birth  to  her  child.  Her  love  and 
chastity  shut  out  all  fear  of  the  licentious  remarks  and  looks 
of  libertines.  She  stands  upon  the  dignity  of  the  most  hon 
orable  and  important  institution  on  earth,  and  hopes  for 
and  rejoices  in  everything  that  belongs  to  it;  and,  no  matter 
where  she  may  be,  shame  is  as  far  from  her  a  month  be 
fore  the  child  is  born  as  it  is  a  year  after.  Whenever  a 
woman  is  ashamed  of  her  conception  her  marriage  lacks 
love  on  one  side  or  the  other;  for  where  love  reigns  su 
preme  such  shame  cannot  exist.  A  woman  never  appears 
more  beautiful,  honest,  pure,  and  wifelike  than  when  in  a 
reproductive  state.  It  is  only  when  she  has  brought  up  a 
noble  family  that  she  again  appears  as  grand. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  simple,  powerful,  and 
successful  as  pure  matrimony.  Notice  the  young  couple. 

[76] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


Without  money,  without  friends,  and  without  a  home,  see 
how  simply  and  quietly  they  get  married,  apparently  with 
out  a  thought.  Yet  see  how  they  prosper.  Nothing  impedes 
their  progress.  No  matter  how  hard  the  times,  poverty 
never  gets  permanent  control  of  them.  The  most  trying 
circumstances  only  serve  to  reveal  to  the  world  the  real 
character  and  power  of  true  matrimonial  love. 

One  is  first  to  go  to  God  in  prayer.  He  understands  na 
ture  and  knows  every  individual.  Therefore  ask  Him  to 
present  the  right  one,  and  there  is  no  prayer  that  He  will 
more  gladly  answer  than  that  one.  Of  course  many  people 
will  sneer  at  this,  as  they  do  at  everything  that  is  sacred; 
but  I  know  that  what  I  write  here  is  true.  I  have  known  a 
man  to  ask  the  Lord  to  give  him  a  wife.  I  have  known  a 
woman  to  ask  the  Lord  to  give  her  a  husband.  The  same 
man  and  woman  have  met,  being  strangers,  loved  each 
other  at  first  sight,  got  married,  and  have  always  lived  in 
praise  and  thankfulness  to  God  for  bringing  them  together. 


THE  passions  all  strong,  extremely  sensitive,  a  love  of 
virtue  sufficiently  strong  to  keep  all  under  control, —  such 
a  man  or  woman  is  a  complete  human  being.  Passion  is 
life,  strength,  and  reproduction.  Sensitiveness  is  good,  for 

[77] 


THOUGHTS      I       MET 


how  could  we  understand  the  truth  without  feeling  it.  A 
pure,  sensitive  mind  can  tell  every  touch  of  right,  and 
therefore  is  sure  in  thought. 


NINETY-SEVEN  persons  out  of  every  hundred  have  a 
deformity  of  some  kind. 


WERE  you  ever  abused  by  words  right  to  your  face,  and 
did  you  go  away  without  speaking  hard  or  angry  words, 
and  then  afterwards  did  you  feel  small  and  cowardly  be 
cause  you  did  not  cut  back  ?  No  doubt  you  have.  But  did 
you  ever  think  how  the  other  fellow  must  have  felt  ?  He 
surely  felt  worse  than  you  did,  because  abuse  that  is  un- 
replied  to  always  rebounds  with  double  force  upon  the  one 
who  gives  it,  and  causes  a  lasting  sting. 


SETTLE  it  in  your  heart  now  and  forever,  reader,  that 
after  you  have  once  repented  of  any  wrong  that  you  have 
ever  done  you  are  never  to  grieve  over  it.  No  matter  what 
the  wrong  may  have  been,  remember  that  when  once  you 
have  repented  of  it  you  are  a  different  person  from 
what  you  were  when  you  committed  the  act,  and  if  it  comes 

[78] 


-•}-  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -{*- 

to  your  mind  at  all,  you  may  think  of  it  as  you  would  think 
of  another  person  in  another  condition  who  had  done  it. 
This  is  the  great  act  and  power  of  repentance.  God  says 
that  He  will  remember  our  sins  no  more  against  us.  And 
now,  what  right  have  you  to  remember  with  grief  what 
God  has  forgotten  in  love  and  mercy  ?  It  seems  to  me  that 
I  must  have  died  of  grief  over  some  things  that  I  have  done 
if  this  precious  thought  had  not  Come  to  my  poor,  sorrow 
ing  heart.  But  now  I  don 't  know  what  it  is  to  have  an  un 
happy  day. 


MEN  and  grapes  are  very  much  alike.    Neither  of  them 
are  worth  much  till  they  have  been  bruised. 


No  matter  what  or  where  we  are,  the  first  thing  we 
always  look  for  in  others  is  a  counterpart  of  ourself.  This 
is  also  a  fixed  principle.  And  the  purer  one  is  the  more 
eagerly  does  he  look.  This  is  true  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 
Nothing  can  be  more  pleasing  to  Him  than  to  see  His 
image  in  man. 


IT  is  taught  and  generally  believed  that  doctors  should 
not  allow  their  feelings  to  be  touched  by  the  sufferings  of 
their  patients.  And  there  are  few  doctors  who  have  any 

[79] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


feeling  for  the  suffering.  Their  dealings  with  patients  are 
all  mechanical.  But  the  natural  doctor  is  all  feeling.  A 
real  doctor's  first  act  is  always  to  put  himself  between  the 
patient  and  the  disease.  He  does  this  by  feeling.  There  is 
no  other  way  to  do  it.  No  disease  can  enter  into  a  person 
unless  the  system  has  first  been  weakened  in  some  way 
by  a  violation  of  nature.  And  the  doctor  reenforces  nature 
in  the  patient.  A  natural  doctor  is  always  in  harmony  with 
nature,  and  of  course  full  of  health  and  vigor.  I  would 
consider  it  just  as  inconsistent  to  have  a  sickly  doctor  try 
to  give  me  health  as  to  have  a  sinful  minister  preach  to  me. 
Treating  a  person  in  the  true  and  perfect  way  for  physical 
sickness  is  done  in  just  the  same  way  that  one  is  treated 
for  spiritual  sickness.  It  is  all  the  work  of  God,  and  per 
fectly  natural.  And  it  is  all  the  work  of  feeling,  for  it  is  all 
the  work  of  love.  Of  course  I  am  speaking  here  of  doctor 
ing  in  a  Christian  way.  I  believe  in  no  other  way  as  a  sure 
one.  I  think  medicines  do  good  sometimes,  but  that  they 
oftener  do  harm.  When  I  speak  of  the  natural  doctor  I 
mean  one  that  has  the  gift  of  healing,  is  consecrated  to 
God,  and  believes  in  all  the  promises  of  the  Bible.  No 
person  can  be  natural  without  being  a  Christian,  nor  be  a 
Christian  without  being  natural.  Christ  did  not  come  into 
the  world  to  change  nature,  but  just  the  reverse.  He  said 

[80] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


He  came  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  And  if  humanity  was 
lost,  of  course  it  was  by  falling  from  the  natural  condition 
in  which  God  first  placed  it.  And  as  the  nature  He  placed 
here  first  was  good  in  itself,  of  course  He  would  not  destroy 
it.  So  when  a  man  is  saved  he  is  simply  made  natural. 
Only  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  and  being  raised  up,  he  is 
stronger  and  wiser  than  were  our  fore-parents.  But  he  is 
only  natural  after  all.  Sin  is  unnaturalness,  and  righteous 
ness  is  naturalness.  When  people  speak  of  the  supernat 
ural  as  a  being  outside  of  nature  I  think  they  make  a  mis 
take.  We  cannot  see  nor  conceive  of  any  being  outside  of 
nature.  Christ  never  called  Himself  anything  but  a  man, 
and  He  said  that  God  was  a  spirit.  The  Bible  says  that 
"  as  many  as  were  led  by  the  spirit,  to  them  gave  He  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God."  And  we  are  taught  by  our 
Saviour  to  say,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven."  We  are 
also  called  the  children  of  God.  Now  the  question  is,  if 
God  is  one  nature  and  mankind  another,  how  can  God  and 
man  be  father  and  son  ?  Man  can,  by  the  power  that  is  in 
him,  so  control  certain  animals  as  to  make  them  take  de 
light  in  obeying  him,  and  become  actually  attached  to 
him ;  yet  the  thought  of  father  and  son  would  never  occur 
to  a  man  concerning  himself  and  an  animal  so  attached  to 
him.  Christ  says,  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the 

[81] 


^  THOUGHTS       I       MET  ^ 

Father."  And  I  see  Christ,  in  His  life  and  work  here  on  the 
earth,  as  the  perfection  of  perfect  manhood:  strictly  nat 
ural  in  everything  that  He  said  and  did.  I  therefore  look 
to  God  as  the  mind,  wisdom,  system,  power,  beauty,  the 
great  and  grand  all,  the  embodiment  of  nature  —  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe.  When  I  look  at  the  love 
and  tenderness  of  God  in  Christ,  as  He  worked  on  earth  to 
perfect  man  in  nature,  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  of  His 
servants  doing  anything  for  the  good  of  man  and  the  glory 
of  God  without  feeling. 


AN  ideal  is  that  which  envelopes  the  imagination,  feasts 
the  desire,  and  still  holds  the  soul  in  rapture. 


THERE  is  no  person  whose  society  is  of  so  little  worth  as 
the  one  who  can  never  bear  to  be  alone.  The  person  who 
has  not  a  secret  time  and  place  in  which  to  talk  with  the 
Lord  never  can  talk  with  much  profit  with  any  one  else. 


WHO  can  estimate  the  worth  of  a  dream  ?  You  have 
been  delivered  from  some  bad  habit;  for  some  time  you 
have  been  tempted  to  go  back  to  the  habit.  One  night 
in  a  dream  you  take  up  the  habit  and,  after  indulging, 

[82] 


-^  ON      THE       HIGHWAY  -f»~ 

you  reflect,  and  oh,  how  sorry  and  miserable  you  feel !  It 
seems  that  you  are  forever  undone.  And  while  you  are 
feeling  worse  and  worse  you  awake  to  find  that  it  was  only 
a  dream.  You  are  more  strongly  fortified  against  that  bad 
habit  than  ever  before,  for  you  had  a  taste  of  consequence 
without  committing  the  sin. 


THE  man  who  gives  and  tells  of  it  never  gives  at  all.  He 
only  buys  shares  in  reputation  stock  and  makes  poverty 
his  purchasing  agent. 


No  boundary  line  was  ever  drawn  straighter  than  that 
between  love  and  hatred.  Until  we  cross  that  line  revenge 
and  resentment  are  sweet  and  gratifying,  but  when  we 
cross  that  line  and  love  gets  full  possession  of  us  pity  takes 
the  place  of  revenge.  We  see  that  our  enemy  is  on  the 
wrong  side  of  truth,  on  the  wrong  side  of  his  own  nature, 
and  altogether  afflicted,  and,  instead  of  seeking  revenge, 
we  seek  the  joy  there  is  in  forgiving.  I  know  that  peo 
ple  say  it  is  impossible  to  love  an  enemy,  but  I  know  better. 
I  have  been  on  both  sides  of  the  line  and  know  what  I  am 
talking  about.  There  is  nothing  that  enables  a  man  to  see 
and  think  arid  gives  him  such  power  as  praying  for  an 

[83] 


-^  THOUGHTS       I       MET  -^- 

enemy.  He  may  not  have  much  feeling  beyond  mere  pity 
when  he  begins  to  pray,  but  if  he  continues  to  pray  the 
feeling  will  soon  come,  and  with  it  will  come  joy.  Revenge 
can  gratify  for  a  short  time  only,  but  it  never  can  satisfy, 
for  revenge  is  an  agent  of  hatred,  and  the  nature  of  hatred 
is  first  to  destroy  the  hated  one  and  then  to  destroy  the 
hater. 


ON  any  serious  matter  I  would  rather  have  the  judgment 
of  a  good  woman  than  that  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  any 
nation. 


HUMBLE,  honest  ignorance  is  more  pleasing  to  God  and 
worth  more  to  man  than  haughty  knowledge. 


TRUE  friendship  is  boundless  and  endless;  that  is  why 
it  affords  us  so  much  joy.  We  can  have  no  lasting  joy  in 
anything  whose  limit  we  can  see.  This  is  a  fixed  principle, 
and  it  is  the  strength  and  real  life  of  every  right  union. 
When  once  a  wife  comprehends  her  husband's  greatest 
powers  and  real  worth  —  or  when  once  the  husband  sees 
the  limit  of  his  wife's  loveliness  —  their  joy  in  each  other 
ceases,  and  that  union  is  proved  to  be  a  false  one.  In  every 

[84] 


ON      THE      HIGH 


WAY 


true  union  there  is  always  an  evidence  of  something  greater 
in  the  person  than  has  been  seen. 


DECEPTION  can  cover  up  and  hide  many  things  — for  a 
short  time  only.  But  there  is  one  thing  it  cannot  hide,  and 
that  is  itself.  Whatever  deceitfulness  there  is  in  a  person  is 
sure  to  show  itself  in  the  countenance.  There  is  no  way  in 
which  sin  can  be  concealed  all  the  time.  Right  will  not 
stand  guard  over  wrong,  and  wrong  is  not  broad  enough 
nor  sufficient  in  any  way  to  cover  itself.  One  awful  thing 
about  deceitfulness  is,  it  has  to  be  watched  all  the  time- 
And  the  mind  being  fixed  upon  it  constantly,  the  face  of 
the  person  after  a  while  becomes  hideous. 


THE  best  way  to  oppose  the  familiarity  of  a  bad-man 
nered  man  is  to  treat  him  with  extreme  politeness.  He 
will  either  change  his  manner  or  evade  you. 


HAVE  no  fear  of  slander.  Be  like  the  oak,  when  the 
poison  vine  entwines  itself  around  it.  It  keeps  quiet,  and 
grows,  and  finally  the  vine  breaks  and  falls  to  the  ground 
arid  there  lies  and  enriches  the  earth  at  the  roots  of  the  very 

[85] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


tree  that  it  sought  to  kill.    Slander  will  die  at  our  feet  if  we 
let  it  alone,  and  will  leave  our  character  all  the  richer. 


WHY  is  it  that  the  very  least  thing  spoils  our  comfort; 
that  the  least  prick  of  the  least  thorn,  the  slightest  afflic 
tion,  affects  our  whole  being  ?  It  is  because  nature  can  be 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  perfection. 


THE  Jewish  nation  had  everything  in  the  way  of  govern 
ment  that  a  nation  could  have.  They  had  everything  their 
own  way.  They  had  rulers  of  God's  choice,  rulers  of  their 
own  choice,  and  no  rulers  at  all.  They  had  everything 
they  wanted  to  eat  and  wear.  They  had  the  wisest  men 
that  ever  lived  to  do  their  thinking,  and  the  greatest  poets 
to  do  their  singing.  They  had  the  finest  meeting-house  that 
was  ever  planned  in  which  to  worship  God,  and  it  was  the 
very  house  in  which  they  condemned  the  Saviour  to  death. 
That  great  nation,  with  all  of  its  experience  and  all  of  its 
advantages,  came  to  naught.  And  yet  here  is  the  popular 
church  to-day  calling  itself  Christian,  and  putting  its  trust 
in  law  and  in  the  sword.  Almost  all  of  the  ministers  of  the 
popular  church  are  preaching  politics  under  the  guise  of 
Christianity.  Leading  men  in  the  church  are  tricky  pol- 

[86] 


ON       THE       HIGHWAY 


iticians.  There  are  thousands  of  young  men  and  women 
that  never  hear  the  gospel.  They  will  not  go  into  the  pop 
ular  churches;  and  they  would  get  little  good  if  they  did. 
The  only  way  to  reach  them  is  through  the  little  missions 
that  are  being  opened,  together  with  the  poor  unpopular 
little  churches.  In  these  they  will  hear  the  gospel  preached 
in  love.  No  matter  how  much  law-making  there  is  done, 
nor  how  hard  people  work  to  enforce  law,  no  work  will  be 
effectual  but  the  work  of  love.  Our  Saviour  has  given  us  a 
remedy  for  every  kind  of  trouble,  and  has  told  us  how  to 
use  it.  Surely  if  there  had  been  anything  better  as  a  rem 
edy,  or  another  one  who  knew  as  much  as  He,  and  did  as 
much  as  He,  and  loved  man  as  He,  and  died  to  give  us  life 
as  He  did,  He  would  have  told  us. 


THE  more  in  harmony  with  truth  one  comes  to  be,  the 
fewer  bosom  friends  has  he. 


JUST  see  how  things  that  are  little  more  than  vanity  are 
esteemed  high  above  things  that  are  of  great  worth.  Does 
a  son  of  Italy  paint  a  picture  or  sculp  a  statue  ?  He  is  held 
in  highest  honor.  Does  a  daughter  of  Italy  sit  on  the  corner 
of  the  street  selling  apples  and  nuts  ?  It  is  as  much  as  ever 

[87] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


that  she  is  treated  as  a  human  being.  Yet  that  one  woman 
with  her  basket  of  fruits  is  worth  more  than  all  the  painters 
and  sculptors,  for  she  supplies  natural  need  and  they  do 
not. 


PLEASING  surprises  are  a  part  of  the  world's  health,  and 
an  intimation  and  a  proof  of  the  things  that  belong  to  us 
that  we  know  not  of. 


THE  only  way  to  know  the  right  in  all  cases  is  always  to 
be  in  love  with  it. 


THERE  is  nothing  real  but  truth.  It  is  the  only  thing 
that  will  stand  alone.  It  is  the  only  thing  that  will  satisfy ; 
and  as  we  grow  into  the  knowledge  of  it,  how  peace  and 
joy  spring  up  in  our  hearts,  and  how  we  throw  aside  all 
false  and  unprofitable  things  as  fast  as  they  are  revealed  to 
us !  The  only  definition  we  can  give  to  truth  is  "  that  which 
leads  us  into  perfect  peace  and  happiness."  Oh,  how  pre 
cious  it  becomes  to  us  as  we  learn  its  nature  and  power 
from  feeding  upon  it !  We  want  it  alone,  without  any  addi 
tion  by  man.  It  is  like  pure  water. 

When  we  were  ignorant  it  was  easy  to  make  us  believe 
that  there  were  many  different  kinds  of  drinks  that  would 

[88] 


ON      THE      HIGHWAY 


quench  thirst.  We  would  walk  right  by  a  fountain  of  pure 
water  and  go  into  a  drug-store  and  call  for  soda-water,  with 
its  syrups  and  its  different  flavorings;  but,  instead  of  our 
thirst  being  quenched,  it  was  increased  by  the  false  drink. 
After  a  while  we  learned  that  what  was  needed  to  quench 
thirst  was  not  in  the  soda,  nor  in  the  flavorings.  It  was  in 
nothing  but  the  pure  water.  There  can  be  nothing  in  any 
kind  of  a  drink  that  will  quench  thirst  but  the  water  that  is 
connected  with  it,  and  whatever  is  connected  with  the 
water  makes  it  harder  for  the  water  to  do  its  work.  Just  so 
it  is  with  truth.  In  order  to  get  the  good  of  it  we  must  take 
it  without  the  flavoring;  and,  again  like  pure  water,  it 
makes  no  difference  through  what  channel  or  in  what  vessel 
it  comes,  so  long  as  it  is  nothing  but  the  clean  truth  it  is  all 
right  and  all  powerful. 


THE  one  that  refuses  to  shun  the  appearance  of  evil  will 
soon  be  guilty  of  the  evil. 


No  matter  what  the  trouble  may  be  between  you 
and  another,  always  remember  that  the  humble  side  is 
always  the  best  side,  and  will  always  prove  to  be  the  vic 
torious  side  in  the  end.  I  have  observed  this  for  several 

[89] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


years,  and  have  proved  it  to  be  true.  This  is  the  reason : 
when  you  take  that  stand  you  take  a  position  upon  a  fixed 
principle  of  truth,  and  that  principle  cannot  change;  but 
there  is  no  fixed  principle  of  truth  for  the  one  that  takes  the 
opposite  position,  hence  sure  failure  in  the  end.  Humility 
is  a  course  which,  if  pursued  by  every  one,  would  lead  all 
into  a  state  of  perfect  peace  and  happiness.  There  is  no 
other  way  by  which  we  can  come  into  an  acquaintance 
and  harmony  with  the  fixed  principles  of  truth  than  by  the 
way  of  humility.  All  the  completely  rounded  characters, 
all  the  real,  noble,  pure,  and  great  men  and  women,  who 
have  brought  light  to  benighted  minds,  joy  to  the  sorrow 
ing  hearts,  and  salvation  to  the  lost,  have  always  taken 
their  position  on  the  humble  side  of  every  great  question. 


A  MAN  can  have  no  more  real  joy  in  getting  money  after 
he  has  all  he  needs  than  one  can  have  in  eating  after  his 
stomach  is  full,  and  one  is  just  as  hurtful  as  the  other. 


AT  times  when  I  have  been  guilty  of  some  great  sin  it  has 
seemed  as  if  truth  herself  almost  prompted  me  to  lie  in 
order  to  avoid  shame.  But  in  every  case  after  I  had  owned 
up  and  told  the  whole  truth  at  every  risk,  the  great  flood  of 

[90] 


ON          THE          HlGHWA 


joy  that  came  into  my  heart  proved  that  the  prompting  was 
the  devil  "transformed  into  an  angel  of  light."  There 
never  has  been,  neither  can  there  be,  anybody  in  this  whole 
universe  who  could  or  can  under  any  circumstances  afford 
to  tell  anything  but  the  truth.  It  is  often  painful  to  own  the 
truth,  but  not  to  do  so  is  sure  death  always.  If  I  lie  I  be 
come  the  servant  of  that  lie;  but  if  I  tell  the  truth,  that 
truth  serves  me. 


WE  cannot  know  any  principle  of  truth  better  than  we 
know  ourselves. 


THE  highest  possible  joy  comes  only  as  the  result  of 
holy  action,  which  action  always  begins  with  sacrifice.  Of 
all  the  fixed  principles,  the  greatest  and  most  wonderful, 
the  one  that  nature  depends  most  upon,  is  love.  Degraded, 
unbelieving,  and  generally  wicked  though  the  world  is, 
love  is  universally  sought  and  depended  upon — not  be 
cause  it  is  in  the  hearts  of  all  men,  for  there  are  few 
who  have  love,  but  because  it  is  natural  to  desire  and 
expect  to  be  loved.  In  time  of  danger,  or  when  about  to 
receive  well-deserved  punishment  at  the  hands  of  justice, 
the  vilest  person  will  plead  for  mercy  (which  indeed  is  a 
great  element  of  love).  While  his  flesh  is  being  torn  al- 

[91] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


most  from  his  bones  by  the  cowhide  which  has  been  hard 
ened  and  made  all  the  more  cruel  by  the  dried  blood  from 
the  backs  of  many  slaves,  the  poor  slave  in  the  hour  of 
that  awful  agony  will  look  most  beseechingly  into  the 
demon  eyes  of  his  inhuman  master  to  see  if  he  can  discover 
anything  that  is  any  way  akin  to  love,  whereby  he  may 
arouse  some  pity.  The  first  sound  from  the  infant's  throat 
is  a  cry  for  the  action  of  love.  The  last  groans  in  death  are 
for  the  interposition  of  love.  After  everything  has  failed 
and  reason  herself  has  retired  from  the  scene  and  there  is 
no  hope,  faint  and  fleeting  life  still  looks  and  calls  for  love. 
What  does  it  all  mean  ?  It  is  nature  calling  and  looking  to 
her  God,  for  "  God  is  love." 


I  HAVE  looked  from  every  standpoint,  and  have  failed  to 
see  wherein  that  man  who  has  no  higher  object  in  life 
than  bodily  comfort  differs  from  a  brute. 


WHEN  we  are  delivered  from  great  grief  or  any  embar 
rassment,  the  way  in  which  we  rejoice  over  our  deliverance 
is  a  proof  of  the  moral  region  in  which  we  dwell,  and  of  the 
spirit  that  occupies  our  heart.  If  when  we  are  most  pleased 
we  give  thanks  and  praise  to  our  Father  in  Heaven,  it 

[92] 


ON      THE      HIGHWAY 


proves  that  we  are  in  His  spirit.  But  if  our  joy  manifests 
itself  in  the  performance  or  thought  of  any  earthly  indul 
gence  it  is  proof  that  the  spirit  of  sin  controls  us.  It  is  the 
unusual  events  of  our  lives  that  tell  us  what  and  where  we 
are.  Extreme  sorrow  and  extreme  joy  are  sure  to  reveal  to 
us  and  to  the  world  our  true  character. 


"  GIVE  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  Did  you  ever  stop 
right  still  and  look  at  this  prayer  ?  And  have  you  fully  con 
sidered  its  meaning  ?  The  Lord  commands  us  to  thus 
pray.  And  why  does  He  so  command  us  to  pray  ?  (I  am 
writing  this  book  for  those  who  believe  there  is  a  God,  and 
not  for  fools  who  say  there  is  no  God).  The  reason  is  this: 
God  so  loves  us  that  He  not  only  wants  us  to  believe  that 
He  is,  but  He  wants  us  to  constantly  know  Him,  and  a  con 
stant  knowledge  of  Him  always  means  constant  trust  in 
Him.  Thus  He  presents  Himself  to  us  on  the  fixed  prin 
ciple  of  parent  and  child,  that  we  may  realize  His  love  for 
us  and  be  able  to  see  that  it  is  our  right  and  privilege  to  go 
to  Him  for  all  things.  He  would  have  us  see  that  we  are 
placed  in  the  same  relation  to  Him  as  the  relation  of  the 
little  child  to  its  mother.  Let  us  remember  that  He  does 
not  command  us  to  pray  for  help  to  get  our  daily  bread,  to 

[93] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


bless  our  intentions,  to  open  up  ways  and  means,  or  to 
indirectly  show  us  how  to  get  a  living  by  hard  work,  but 
He  tells  us  plainly  to  ask  Him  to  give  us  our  daily  bread  - 
it  is  a  gift.  Not  that  we  are  to  be  idle  and  shiftless,  but 
that  we  are  to  trust  Him  with  such  a  perfect  trust  we  will 
know  that  whatever  work  or  business  we  do  is  by  His  di 
rection,  and  that  He  takes  care  of  us  as  a  good  earthly 
father  takes  care  of  an  obedient  son. 

Living  that  prayer  puts  and  keeps  a  man  in  the  wisest, 
and  in  every  sense  the  most  powerful,  the  healthiest,  surest, 
firmest,  and  happiest  condition  for  which  any  one  can 
wish.  It  actually  makes  one  know  that  he  is  at  all  times 
in  full  harmony  and  power  with  the  Supreme  Being  of  the 
whole  universe. 


How  very  convenient  it  is  to  doubt  what  costs  a  sacrifice 
to  believe! 


IT  is  generally  thought  that  to  understand  human  nature 
one  must  observe  and  study  many  different  persons.  But 
it  is  not  so.  Are  you  not  a  natural  being  ?  Then  why  look 
to  another  for  what  you  have  yourself  ?  No  matter  what  I 
see  of  nature  in  another,  I  am  only  looking  at  myself  in 
somebody  else,  If  I  would  observe  and  understand  human 

[94] 


-^  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -J^ 

nature,  I  must  see  and  know  myself.    I  can  see  farther  into 
myself  than  I  can  into  any  one  else. 


WHEN  a  person  becomes  enraged  it  takes  twenty-four 
hours  —  and  one-third  of  that  time  in  sound  sleep  —  to 
bring  the  brain  back  to  its  normal  condition.  This  shows 
how  killing  is  the  loss  of  temper.  How  plainly  it  is  to  be 
seen  that,  in  any  kind  of  a  contest,  when  a  man  loses  his 
temper  he  is  half  whipped.  If  the  loss  of  temper  thus 
weakens,  what  must  the  keeping  of  it  do  ? 


WHAT  is  charity  ?  Theologists  have  a  way  of  tossing  it 
off  as  love.  Well,  it  is  love,  but  not  the  kind  of  love  gener 
ally  found  among  theologians.  That  is  a  very  cheap  love. 
I  cannot  see  that  it  differs  in  any  sense  from  the  world's 
love. 

Charity  looks  upon  a  sinful  soul  just  as  a  wise  man  looks 
upon  one  with  a  broken  leg,  or  with  a  disease  that  kills. 
No  matter  how  much  the  lame  or  sick  man  staggers,  he  is 
not  responsible  for  it.  Just  so  does  charity  look  upon  a 
sinner;  and  as  the  sick  man  is  not  given  up  until  it  is  seen 
that  he  must  die,  neither  is  the  sinner  given  up  until  he  is 
wholly  depraved,  and  only  charity  has  a  right  to  say 

[95] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


when  a  soul  is  totally  depraved.  You  do  not  see  this 
kind  of  love  in  the  churches.  The  kind  of  love  that  is 
popular  there  cannot  be  called  charity,  for  the  popular 
church  knows  no  religion  beyond  what  the  respectable 
world  can  endorse.  The  church  of  to-day  stands  right 
where  the  Jewish  church  stood  when  Christ  was  on  earth. 
The  most  advanced  popular  church  of  to-day  has  not  gone 
beyond  the  line  of  justice.  It  is  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth,"  just  as  in  the  Jewish  church.  Charity  is 
not  that  kind  of  love  that  gives  away  one  dollar  and  keeps 
two;  neither  is  it  that  kind  of  love  that  stands  up  in  the 
prayer-meeting  and  says  it  loves  Jesus,  and  yet  turns  a  poor 
widow  out-of-doors  for  non-payment  of  rent  ;  nor  is  it  that 
kind  of  love  that  teaches  a  Sunday-school  class  of  children, 
and  then  next  day  refuses  to  let  a  house  to  a  man  because 
he  has  children.  Charity  is  the  kind  of  love  that  allows  the 
other  man  to  have  the  best  end  of  the  bargain.  Charity 
always  seeks  the  humble  side  in  all  matters.  Charity  is  the 
kind  of  love  that  suffers  everything,  and  then  hangs  on  the 
cross  and  pleads  for  its  murderers. 


O  HOW  precious  and  joyful  the  thought  that  there  is  no 
degree  of  happiness  that  the  lowest,  dullest,  most  ignorant. 

[96] 


ON      THE      HIGHWAY 


and  poorest  of  us  cannot  have !  Great,  numerous,  and  won 
derful  are  the  joys  of  the  universe;  yet  any  meek  and  honest 
heart  can  take  in  all  of  them.  No  matter  how  poor  I  am, 
there  is  no  part  of  true  riches  that  I  cannot  have.  No  mat 
ter  how  ignorant  I  am,  there  is  no  needed  knowledge  that 
is  beyond  my  reach,  and  no  wisdom  that  I  cannot  obtain. 
No  matter  how  much  I  may  ever  have  lacked  character, 
there  is  no  plane  of  perfect  manhood  to  which  I  cannot 
attain.  There  are  no  beauties  that  I  cannot  admire,  and 
there  can  be  no  real  glories  that  I  cannot  share.  All  of  this 
do  I  have  as  a  result  of  having  God  for  a  father. 


How  blessed  it  is  that  the  kinds  of  knowledge  and  wis 
dom  that  are  most  essential  to  health,  happiness,  and  sal 
vation  are  such  as  all  can  have.  Thank  Almighty  God  for 
His  loving  kindness  in  making  the  best  the  easiest  to  learn. 


THE  general   course   of  man:  first  a  temple  of  pride, 
then  a  tyrant,  then  a  coward,  then  a  slave. 


How  miserable  and  worthless,  and  how  lacking  of  real 
manly  and  womanly  development,  are  those  who  have  no 

[97] 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


higher  object  in  life  than  a  meal  of  victuals,  a  night's  lodg 
ing,  a  suit  of  clothes,  a  day's  pleasure,  and  a  night's  gratifi 
cation.  Such  people  have  but  one  life,  and  when  their 
bodies  die  that  life  dies  with  them.  But  how  different  it  is 
with  those  who  find  the  right  ways  of  life !  They  die  to  the 
life  that  dies,  and  live  in  and  for  the  life  that  lives  forever, 
and  the  proof  of  that  life  is  the  joy  it  constantly  affords  in 
the  midst  of  and  under  all  kinds  of  trouble:  a  joy  that  fills 
the  heart  so  full  that  it  runs  over  and  fills  other  hearts. 
Even  death  is  made  its  servant  to  show  and  prove  the  worth 
of  every  one  whose  object  is  truth  and  whose  words  and 
actions  are  prompted  by  love,  for  this  is  the  second  life, 
that  death  cannot  kill. 


A  MAN  never  has  victory  over  a  trial  until  he  has  suc 
ceeded  in  making  the  trial  his  servant.  Being  merely  will 
ing  to  bear  the  trial  is  not  sufficient.  He  must  so  use  it,  or 
so  see  and  understand  it,  as  to  be  made  stronger  and  put  in 
a  better  place.  This  can  be  done  only  by  perfect  trust  in 
God  through  the  promises  of  our  Saviour. 


IT  is  not  love  that  leads  one  to  treat  a  brute  as  a  human 
being  (I  mean  beyond  proper  kindness).    It  is  perverted 

[98] 


-«f  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -{*" 

affection.  To  prove  that  it  is  not  love,  you  will  find 
that  those  who  lavish  their  affections  upon  brutes  seldom 
pay  much  attention  to  destitute  children.  The  emperor 
that  made  a  horse  his  counsel  never  made  a  record  as  a 
philanthropist. 


OF  all  the  millions  of  people  on  this  earth,  how  few 
there  are  who  give  any  reason  for  living !  The  great  ma 
jority  of  men  live  for  nothing  at  all.  There  are  few  in 
any  community  that  have  any  special  object  in  living. 
Most  men  work  for  something  to  eat,  and  eat  because  they 
are  hungry;  beyond  that  they  have  little  or  no  object  in 
living.  While  in  this  condition  this  great  majority  of  men 
are  only  machines.  They  have  no  active  mind  of  their 
own  and  have  to  be  operated  and  run  by  the  minds  of 
those  who  have  special  objects  in  life.  No  matter  what  a 
man's  occupation  may  be,  no  man  can  be  a  completely 
rounded  man  without  some  good  and  special  object  in 
living.  The  man  who  lives  for  a  good  object  never  de 
pends  on  others,  and  is  never  idle.  He  depends  on  the  good 
there  is  in  the  object,  and  no  matter  what  difficulties  he 
encounters,  he  is  always  able  to  surmount  them,  and  he  is 
always  doing  something.  How  often  do  we  see  people  who 
are  looking  for  some  kind  of  entertainment  by  which  to 

[99] 


THOUGHTS       I      MET 


pass  away  the  time.  Such  people  have  no  special  and  good 
object  in  life.  The  man  with  a  good  object  never  has  any 
time  to  pass  away.  He  has  use  for  all  the  time  there  is. 
No  matter  where  he  is,  he  is  at  work.  If  he  is  waiting  for  a 
train,  or  riding  on  one,  he  is  doing  in  his  mind  what  he  in 
tends  to  do  with  his  hands,  tongue,  or  pen.  We  can  always 
tell  those  who  are  living  for  a  good  object  by  their  demeanor, 
and  also  by  the  very  circumstances,  in  which  there  is  always 
something  that  is  inspiring.  Such  people  never  evince  a 
spirit  of  self-importance  and  are  not  given  to  foolish  talk 
ing.  You  can  see  that  they  are  filled  with  substantial 
thought.  It  is  by  such  people  that  the  world  is  held  in  ex 
istence.  They  are  walking  fountains  of  life.  The  mind 
that  is  rightly  fixed  on  a  good  object  is  linked  to  every  good 
in  the  whole  universe.  People  talk  about  trying  to  live  a 
good  life ;  they  think  if  they  try  to  avoid  sin  they  may  suc 
ceed  in  living  a  good  life,  but  this  is  a  mistake.  The  only 
way  one  can  live  a  good  life  is  by  having  the  mind  fixed  on 
a  good  and  special  object.  When  a  man's  mind  is  thus 
fixed,  all  the  combined  fixed  principles  of  truth  support 
him  and  actually  carry  him  through  every  trial.  This  is 
why  he  succeeds  in  living  a  good  life :  his  mind  is  fixed  on 
the  good,  and  the  good  occupies  him.  But  the  man  without 
a  special  object  in  life  is  like  a  wanderer  whose  highest 

[100] 


ON         THE         HlGHWA 


hope  is  that  he  may  by  chance  come  into  some  comfortable 
place  where  he  can  eke  out  an  existence  that  he  does  not 
understand,  for  of  all  the  wonders  in  this  wonderful  world 
the  greatest  wonder  to  the  man  without  any  special  object 
in  life  is  his  own  existence. 


IT  matters  not  how  much  a  man  may  know,  when  he 
gets  out  of  reach  or  beyond  the  understanding  of  the 
masses  he  is  no  longer  a  benefit  to  any  portion  of  the 
human  family. 


ALWAYS  remember  that  other  knowledge  will  step  right 
up  and  offer  itself  just  as  soon  as  you  have  used  for  good 
all  the  knowledge  you  have.  This  is  a  fixed  principle  of 
truth. 


You  say  you  wish  you  were  not  so  sensitive.  I  am  glad 
you  are.  Did  you  ever  know  anybody  who  was  not  sensi 
tive  to  amount  to  much  ?  But  you  say  you  are  made  to  suf 
fer  so  much.  The  fine  musician  has  a  very  sensitive  ear  and 
suffers  every  time  he  hears  a  discord,  but  he  would  rather 
suffer  than  to  part  with  his  sensitiveness.  The  more  com 
plete  in  every  way  one  becomes  the  more  sensitive  that  per- 


THOUGHTS       I       MET 


son  is  sure  to  be,  and  the  more  sensitive  a  man  is,  the  more 
pliable  is  he  to  every  touch  of  truthful  intrust.  That  is, 
if,  instead  of  worshiping  his  sensitiveness,  he  makes  his 
sensitiveness  to  serve  him. 

If  I  am  a  soldier, 

For  truth  to  fight, 
I  will  sense  the  wrong 

To  serve  the  right. 


HAVE  you  ever  taken  your  eyes  off  other  people  long 
enough  to  look  into  your  own  heart  and  get  acquainted 
with  yourself? 


IT  is  a  great  part  of  knowledge  to  know  what  you  believe 
and  just  how  much  you  believe  it. 


I  LOVE  to  dwell  upon  the  fixed  principles  of  truth.  Friend, 
did  you  ever  stop  right  still  and  look  at  the  fixed  principles 
of  truth,  and  see  how  they  explain  the  things  of  real  life? 
I  do  not  mean  the  things  that  seem  to  belong  to  life  but 
really  belong  to  death.  There  is  not  a  thing  that  we  are 
prompted  to  do  that  these  principles  do  not  give  a  reason 
for.  Here  is  the  way  we  may  know  when  we  are  doing 

[102] 


ON      THE       HIGHWAY 


right.  When  people  are  doing  wrong  they  do  not  see  the 
consequences;  there  is  nothing  to  show  them.  The  first 
thing  that  sin  does  to  a  man  is  to  blind  him  It  is  like  a 
snake  with  a  bird.  The  first  thing  a  snake  does  to  a  bird  is 
to  make  it  insensible  of,  or  blind  to,  all  danger.  That  is 
why  he  charms  it.  It  has  the  bird  in  its  power.  The  poor 
thing  does  not  realize  what  it  is  doing  when  it  flits  along 
towards  the  serpent's  mouth.  There  is  a  feeling  produced 
in  the  bird,  and  it  follows  that  feeling  without  any  intima 
tion  of  the  result.  Just  so  it  is  with  a  man  when  he  is 
under  the  control  of  the  wrong  power.  He  may  have  a 
desire  to  do  right,  yet  he  acts  without  knowing  what  the 
result  is  going  to  be.  But  when  a  man  is  under  the  power 
of  truth  he  knows  his  promptings.  No  matter  what  he 
is  moved  to  do,  he  sees  what  the  result  will  be  before  he 
acts;  that  is,  he  will  know  whether  it  will  result  in  good  or 
evil. 

People  question  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  the  peo 
ple  that  do  it  surely  have  not  known  a  single  fixed  prin 
ciple  of  truth,  for  there  is  not  a  fixed  principle  of  truth  with 
which  any  and  all  of  His  words  and  acts  do  not  perfectly 
agree.  Let  anybody  who  knows  any  number  of  fixed  prin 
ciples  test  any  word  or  act  of  the  Saviour  by  those  principles 
and  he  will  see  that  in  every  case  our  Lord  spoke  and  acted 

[103] 


THOUGHTS      I       MET 


upon,  by,  and  from  fixed  principles  of  truth.  Look  at  any 
word  or  act  of  His  from  the  standpoint  of  any  fixed  prin 
ciple  of  truth,  and  we  see  that  it  must  result  in  good.  Liv 
ing  in  harmony  with  the  fixed  principles  of  truth  is  a  life  of 
joy  and  gladness.  Knowing  your  leadings,  and  looking 
ahead  along  the  line  of  those  principles,  and  seeing  the  re 
sult  of  your  actions  before  you  do  them  (that  is,  the  nature 
of  whatever  the  result  will  be,  for  we  cannot  know  what  the 
result  of  an  act  will  be  in  amount),  keeps  the  soul  satisfied 
all  the  time.  The  fixed  principles  of  truth  are  the  eternally 
unchangeable  assignments,  by  which  all  rightness — that  is, 
every  right  thing — is  produced  and  developed.  It  is  the 
fixed  principle  of  truth  that  educates  man.  People  are 
thought  to  be  educated  when  they  have  passed  through 
college;  but  among  the  most  ignorant  men  I  have  ever 
seen  have  been  college-bred  men,  some  of  whom  have  been 
famous  for  their  learning.  They  were  so  ignorant  as  not 
to  know  the  difference  between  a  highly  and  keenly  cher 
ished  custom  and  a  fixed  principle  of  truth.  No  man  can 
be  truthfully  called  a  learned  man  until  he  understands  the 
fixed  principles  of  truth.  There  is  one  very  peculiar  thing 
about  understanding  the  fixed  principles  of  truth.  Thomas 
a  Kempis  once  said  that  he  "  would  rather  have  contrition 
of  heart  than  to  know  the  meaning  thereof."  So  it  is  with 

[104] 


-«}-  ON       THE       HIGHWAY  -f^ 

some  people  and  the  fixed  principles  of  truth:  they  are  so 
led  by  the  spirit  of  truth  that  they  understand  all  the  fixed 
principles  of  truth,  yet  they  know  not  one  of  those  prin 
ciples  to  call  it  by  name. 

To  be  thus  learned  does  not  require  hard  study,  but  strict 
obedience  to  every  truth  we  know;  a  determination  to  do 
every  right  thing  at  any  cost.  This  is  what  makes  the 
greatest  things  possible  to  everybody. 


THIS  BOOK   IS  DUE  ON   THE   LAST  DATE 
STAMPED   BELOW 


BOOKS  REQUESTED   BY  ANOTHER   BORROWER 
ARE  SUBJECT  TO  RECALL  AFTER  ONE  WEEK. 
RENEWED   BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO 
IMMEDIATE   RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-Series  458 


PS   Norman,  Henry. 

3527   Thoughts  I  met  on  the  highway.  By  Henry  Nor 
0465  man  ...  Boston,  Mass.,  Everett,  1905,  c!888. 
T4    105  p.  21  cm. 


i/I.  Title. 
P/dg/wg  10/76  7-21911 


